IND v ENG 2021: Virat Kohli hints at playing combination for the 1st Test in Chennai; speaks on Kuldeep and Pant  

Kohli all but confirmed that Akshar Patel will make his Test debut in Chennai.

As India prepares to play England in the first of the four Tests of the Anthony de Mello Trophy against England, which starts in Chennai from February 5 onwards, captain Virat Kohli addressed media via a virtual press conference and touched upon the potential playing XI as well.

Kohli, who returns to the Indian Test set-up after the birth of daughter Vamika, talked about which players might be included in the playing XI for the first Chennai Test. The first person he talked about was left-arm chinaman Kuldeep Yadav, who didn’t get any chance in the Australia Test series, despite India suffering multiple injuries.

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"It's a delicate balance (picking the team XI). Someone like Kuldeep hasn't had much game time in the longest format in a while. In NZ, conditions didn't allow for 3 spinners. Now the home season starts and he will be in the scheme of things. Kuldeep has improved as a bowler, not just in terms of his skills with the ball but his fitness as well. He will get more opportunities in the future,” Kohli said.

He also confirmed that India is going in with Rishabh Pant as the wicketkeeper for the first Test, ahead of Wriddhiman Saha.

Kohli said, “Yes, Rishabh (Pant) will start tomorrow. He had a massive impact in Australia and is in a good headspace and we want to continue with him. He's come along nicely after the IPL and he's worked hard in his fitness and his game. We were very happy to see him flourish."

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When asked about who will be the person replacing Ravindra Jadeja in the team- Shahbaz Nadeem or Akshar Patel, Kohli all but confirmed that the Gujarat left-arm spinner Akshar will be making his Test debut for India in Chennai on February 5.

Kohli opined on going with Akshar Patel ahead of Shahbaz Nadeem and said, "Yes, the thought process behind that was to replace Jadeja with someone who brings a similar skill set (on going with Akshar Patel ahead of Shahbaz Nadeem)."

Virat Kohli also congratulated his England counterpart Joe Root who will play his 100^th Test and said, "Big congratulations to Joe (Root), playing 100 Tests is no mean feat and he has many more Tests ahead of him. The 'Big Four' talk is media created; we know impact players when we see them and he is one of them. His wicket is one we will prize."

(CricketNext inputs)