IND vs NZ | India unlikely to field all-pace attack in Wellington, admits Virat Kohli
India skipper Virat Kohli, on Wednesday, admitted that the team are unlikely to field an all-pace attack in Wellington, despite the pitch expected to have a green tinge that will assist fast bowling. Kohli further described the World Test Championship as the pinnacle of all ICC tournaments.
The Indian pace unit comprising Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav, over the course of the past 18 months, has been widely regarded as the best pace attack in the world and heading into the Test series, the question facing hosts New Zealand was always going to be whether they would be brave enough to dish out a seam-friendly wicket, one that might potentially backfire.Â
And when the Basin Reserve pitch was uncovered, much to everyoneâs surprise, the wicket had a considerable amount of grass on it, making everyone wonder if that could potentially tempt skipper Virat Kohli into fielding an all-pace attack. But Kohli, who last fielded an all-pace attack in Perth towards the end of 2018, all but gave away that the team would be looking to field a specialist spinner, which he believes would add balance to the attack, and reassured that he will not get carried away with the grass on the surface.
âIf it's a Johannesburg pitch, it's a possibility. From the point of view of our team, we have enough skill that even with three fast bowlers we can win matches. But if you have a world-class spinner in the midst, it's a great advantage. A world-class spinner has the ability to take wickets on any kind of pitch. So we are not looking at the combination of other teams,â Kohli said at the pre-match press conference on Wednesday.
âWe will stick to our strengths. We look for putting the most lethal and balanced bowling attack. We have the belief that with this bowling attack we can win the matches against this batting attack. Ours is a different bowling attack compared to the last tour, in terms of the experience. As a group, we haven't bowled better than this. We haven't bowled out these many sides in the last 2-3 years. I'm sure they will repeat the same here as well."
With 7 wins and 360 points to their name, India tower above the rest atop the inaugural ICC World Test Championship table and the Indian skipper believes that the championship adds a lot of value to the sport, with it all but taking âdead rubbersâ out of the equation. The 31-year-old opined that the championship is the âbiggest ICC tournament of allâ and asserted that the teamâs solitary focus would be to book a place in the final, that will be held at Lordâs in 2021.Â
âI think the series in South Africa was pretty interesting, with South Africa winning the first and then England winning the Cape Town won, the way they won in the last hour. I think you will see a lot more results like that because of the points that are on the line.
âI think Test Championship, as an ICC tournament should be right up there. All the other tournaments, for me, start under that. This is going to be the biggest of them all. And every team wants to make it to the final at Lord's. And we are not any different. We want those points and make sure that we qualify as early as soon as we can and be in that frame of mind to hopefully win that.â
The first Test between India and New Zealand, which will also be India's first Test in New Zealand in six years, will commence on February 21 at the Basin Reserve in Wellington