Virat Kohli backs MS Dhoni to come good in the upcoming games

MS Dhoni’s future in the Indian side has been a hot topic of debate in the recent past, particularly given that the former Indian skipper has been far from his vintage self in the recently concluded Champions Trophy and the tour of the West Indies. The chairman of selectors added fuel to the fire when he recently claimed that the BCCI will look for other alternatives in due course if the Indian stumper’s poor form continues.

"And it helps someone like MS also because he doesn't play Test cricket anymore. This long streak of matches will help him be in touch with the international games, find some momentum and stick to it," Kohli added.

India have completely outplayed the hosts in all departments on the tour so far as they handed the Lankan lions a humiliating 3-0 drubbing in the Test series and followed it up with a 9-wicket thrashing in the first ODI in Dambulla on Sunday. However, one of the talking points of the game on Sunday was the inclusion of Axar Patel ahead of chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav, but Kohli justified the decision saying, "It was a case of having two left-arm spinners that led us not playing Kuldeep in the first game. Axar was favored more than Kuldeep from the point of view that he bats quite well and he is a gun (great) in the field also. Kuldeep has got opportunities in the past.

(Yuzvendra) Chahal and Axar are guys who haven't got many opportunities so we want to test them out. It's all about giving opportunities to people which we feel will not hamper our plans in any way and at the same time, it's about giving them exposure at international cricket," he noted. 

"Kuldeep remains in the thick of things all the time. To have a guy like that in the team is always a boost. You might see two wrist spinners playing together if we feel that we don't need that much depth in the batting in the coming games," the skipper said. 

Finally, Hardik Pandya has proved himself to be the bowling all-rounder that India had been seeking ever since the days of Kapil Dev and Kohli reiterated the faith he has in the youngster’s abilities by giving him the new ball in the last match. Speaking of his decision to do so, Kohli stated, "Hardik has the ability to swing the ball and he can bowl consistently over 135 km/hr. With the new ball, he can get a bit of extra bounce because of his height. He has bowled with the new ball in India against England and against New Zealand in a few games as well. We certainly look at it as a great option for us.