India vs South Africa 2019: Virat Kohli, Ravi Shastri heap praises on team after whitewash against visitors
The captain of the Indian Cricket Team, Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri have appreciated the efforts made by the Indian players in the recently concluded three-match Test series against South Africa. Kohli commended the entire team for performing well in all the three departments. Shastri was of the opinion that there were six-seven players hogging the limelight in this series, which helped the hosts dominate the way they did.
Speaking to Star Sports during the post-match proceedings, Ravi Shastri said ,
"Normally in India, you'll have two players hogging the limelight. Here, you have six-seven. You have a captain who leads by example. He gets a two-hundred plus score in the series. You have an opening batsman who gets a double hundred. You've got middle-order batsmen like Ajinkya Rahane. There is Pujara chipping in. You've got Jadeja chipping in at six, taking wickets. Fast bowlers are chipping in. You pick seven-eight players who contribute all the time. That's what you want in an Indian side."
He even discussed the rise of Rohit Sharma in the top order before applauding the hard work put in by the team's new left-arm spinner, Shahbaz Nadeem.
Captain Virat Kohli felt that if the team continues to dominate like this, they can win anywhere in the world. He admired the versatility of the members of the Indian team and said,
"To be the best side in the world, you need to be multi-dimensional. All facets of your team have to fire and work properly. Spin was always a strength. Batting was never a problem. Fast bowling was very good at a certain time and then all these young bowlers came in. Fielders started working hard as well. It's a team effort. Batsmen gave confidence to the bowlers. Bowlers gave us amazing confidence that even with 300 on the board, we're always in every Test. Catching has been brilliant also. When you strengthen all three aspects, then you're operating at a level that is great to see and great to be part of."
He recalled the South African tour as well where the team had fought well in every Test before winning the final game of the series. Also, the skipper took note of Umesh Yadav's hard work as the right-arm pacer made a triumphant comeback to the Indian Test side.
Apart from that, Kohli even opined that India should have five strong Test centres so that the visiting teams can study the conditions before beginning the tour. He said,
"Teams coming to India should know that we are going to play at these five centres, these are the pitches we should expect, these are the kind of people who will come to watch... crowds. That becomes a challenge already when you're leaving the shores. Because we go to any place, we know we have four Test matches at these venues, this is what the pitches are going to do, it is going to be full stadium, the crowd behind the team."
Kohli signed off by saying that it is fine to rotate matches between state associations in the shorter formats of the game. However, teams coming to play Test matches in India should have perfect knowledge of the venues they are playing at.
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