Kohli all but confirmed that Akshar Patel will make his Test debut in Chennai.
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.
"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.
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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)."
(CricketNext inputs)