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Virat Kohli: Indian team is lucky to have Ashwin, Jadeja and Mishra

India skipper Virat Kohli contributes the team's victory to every bowler in the squad apart from R Ashwin, R Jadeja and Amit Mishra.

Virat Kohli wins his first home series as full time Test captain © Getty Images
Virat Kohli wins his first home series as full time Test captain © Getty Images

Indian team director Ravi Shastri was quite open and straight forward on his views about the pitches leading into the India- South Africa Test series. He said that if the conditions were favorable to spinners India would not hesitate in fielding four spinners along with a lone pace man. The pitch at Mohali turned from Day 1, and even at Nagpur the ball gripped and turned from the first day itself looked more of a Day 4 pitch, India played three spinners. With most of the work being done by Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra looked like the odd man out.  Ashwin with his performance does look to bag in the consecutive fifth Man of the Series award. Ashwin so far in three Tests has picked by 24 wickets at and miserly average of 10.75 even though the batsmen have resisted playing big shots against him. Full Cricket Scorecard: India vs South Africa, 3rd Test

Captain Virat Kohli has been showering praises on his lead bowler. “He has always been a quality bowler and has become more consistent with his stock ball which is flighting the ball and getting more results. He is not trying too much, you hardly see the carrom ball coming in and that’s the sign of confidence for any spinner where he is replying on his natural delivery to deceive the batsmen with changes of pace,” said Kohli.

“I think that’s what he is relying on and that’s something that has changed him. That’s made him stronger as a bowler and he is winning games for us consistently which is a great thing for us because getting the taste of that winning habit is one thing but holding on to it is quite another. These kinds of consistent performances show a sign of champion bowler and the mental strength he has and the knowledge of the game that he has,” Kohli added. READ: Ravichandran Ashwin has some way to go before he can be called ‘World Class’

Ravindra Jadeja and Amit Mishra are not far behind with Jadeja snatching 16 wickets already and Mishra providing the most crucial of dismissals on the path towards victory(AB de Villiers) make sure that they are not left far behind. “Similar to Mohali, he got AB twice in two innings and that is a big wicket in the course of a Test match or a chase as well. In Nagpur when the partnership (between Faf du Plessis and Hashim Amla) was on he actually held the ball and told me that ‘I will get a wicket’ and in about three overs he got Hashim out,” said Kohli.

Kohli went on about Mishra, “He persisted with it, he knew that he would get a wicket if he bowled in the right areas. He was feeling confident and that as a captain is a pleasing thing to hear, a bowler wanting to take the ball and saying that ‘I will get you a wicket’. Credit to him for getting us the breakthrough and then getting du Plessis out as well and that just opened the gate for us beautifully.” READ: India vs South Africa at Nagpur and Australia vs New Zealand at Adelaide show double standards

Credit must also go to Ishant Sharma who bowled an outstanding spell at Nagpur with the older ball creating chances and keeping a lid on the scoring rate ably aiding the spinners. “The effort from those two is as important as Ashwin or Jadeja’s efforts throughout this Test match and Mohali as well,” said Kohli. “Mishra getting us those crucial breakthroughs, he has been very important for us as a bowling unit. He showed that in Sri Lanka as well, bowled really well in his comeback series and has gained a lot of confidence from that,” Kohli quoted on asked about Ishant.

Kohli should feel lucky to have three top class spinners, all of them with different variations and exploit a range of conditions. “Well it’s a big plus … two out of the three guys are very consistent and Amit Mishra for a legspinner is very economical which is not a regular sight. He is someone who knows his bowling, knows his variations and knows where to pitch the ball,” said Kohli. READ: The Nagpur pitch deserves all the criticism that comes its way and here’s why

“It’s a delight to have all three in the squad. All three are bowling well in Indian conditions is obviously an advantage and a threat for the opposition. So I am really happy all three are in rhythm and I am really happy for Jadeja because he is making a comeback and the way he has bowled, the way he has looked, confident with the bat as well, (it) shows that if you go back to first-class cricket and you work hard to come up the right way again, things do fall in place. I am really happy for all three of them, they are really doing well and I hope they continue the same way,” concluded Kohli.

(With inputs from wisdenindia.com)

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