Virat Kohli has changed the dynamics of Indian team, feels Monty Panesar
England left-arm spinner Monty Panesar believes that Virat Kohli has been instrumental in changing the dynamics of the Indian team of late. Kohli's fitness regime has been incorporated in India's team culture which has helped them a long way in becoming a formidable team in all three formats.
England's Monty Panesar has been extremely impressed by the way Virat Kohli has gone about making fitness as an integral part of not only his life but also of others in the Indian team. He believes that fitness is one of the major factors that has made India a formidable team today in all three formats and feels that even he, himself, can learn from Kohli's fitness regime to try to make a comeback in first-class cricket as he still has not ruled out the possibility of playing for England. Panesar last played a Test for England in 2013 and has not played County cricket since 2016, but with England's lack of options in the spin department, Panesar definitely believes that there is a ray of hope for him to make a comeback for England.
"Spinners are not that good (in England), maybe there is a gap and if I work on my fitness, maybe take a leaf out of Virat Kohli's book, people may start taking me seriously," Panesar told IANS.
Panesar was instrumental in England's unforgettable tour to India back in 2012 where he tormented the Indian batsmen as England won the series 2-1. He and Graeme Swann were equally attacking as James Anderson and Stuart Broad were and that is what made a huge difference according to Panesar. He believes that Anderson and Broad have been over-burdened with responsibility and the spinners have been used just as support bowlers and this is what has lead to a drop in quality of spinners. He believes that if the spinners are given more responsibility, things can change in favour of England.
"When James Anderson and Stuart Broad are there, it's easy to be a spinner," he said.
"You have two great bowlers and have that comfort. Let's take them away tell the spinner to become the main bowler in England. I think what me and Swanny did, we became the main bowlers of the team when needed. We played a lot together at Northants. We did well here in India. But since then India have never lost a Test match here," Panesar stated.
India have dominated the home season so far and Panesar was fascinated by seeing the performance of Indian fast bowlers on flat Indian wickets, something that he has never seen before. He believes that this has a lot to do with Kohli's fitness culture as the batsmen face three high-quality fast bowlers bowling non-stop at top speeds at their very best.
"It's very difficult to beat Virat's team in India. And I saw in the last Test match that it was all seamers taking the wickets. Like England, seamers were bowling most of the session and spinners were bowling maybe one over before Lunch. He has really changed the dynamics of the Indian team," Panesar asserted.
"I love his discipline with fitness. He is a Punjabi munda. And Punjabi people find it very difficult to get off their naan, rice, their carb based diets and its brilliant how he has done that. It's made the team fit as well. When I was seeing the Indian team at the World Cup I was thinking why is this team looking so fit. He is expecting that from his team mates," he concluded.
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