Here's what Sourav Ganguly has warned Virat Kohli of
What's the story
The ongoing opening Test of the ICC World Test Championship against the Windies has seen a controversy regarding India's playing XI, by skipper Virat Kohli. Notably, with top-performing off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin missing out, experts have questioned Kohli's captaincy. Meanwhile, former skipper Sourav Ganguly has warned Kohli to maintain consistency when it comes to fielding a proper playing XI. Here's what he said.
Consistency
Virat needs to just be a bit more consistent: Ganguly
Ganguly advised Kohli to give his players a consistent opportunity for them to gather confidence and rhythm. Ganguly presented the example of Shreyas Iyer performing consistently in the just-concluded ODI series against the Windies, as a result of the opportunities he got. "I think that needs to happen with a lot of players and I am sure Virat will do that," said Ganguly.
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Ganguly also surprised at Kuldeep Yadav's exclusion
"I was also surprised to see Kuldeep Yadav left out. The last Test he played against Australia, he got five wickets, if you remember in Sydney on a good flat pitch, he picked up five wickets against Australia," added Ganguly, during an event in Mumbai.
Jadeja justified
Ganguly justifies Ravindra Jadeja's selection over Ashwin
Meanwhile, Ganguly reckoned that Jadeja has been in a strong form of late. However, he was curious to see how would he perform as a spinner on a track, which generally supports seamers. "It's a decision which Kohli has made and we will find out in the next couple of days how far Jadeja goes on to pick wickets on this surface," continued Ganguly.
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Ganguly wary of an unstable Antigua pitch
"This pitch will get up and down, as the game progresses, you can see that sort of indication from the first day of the Test, we will have to wait to see, but that's the competition of Indian cricket," concluded Ganguly.
Author's take
Ganguly's stand on consistency justified, but Kohli not a fool
It should be noted that ever since making his debut as Test captain, Kohli fielded 38 different playing XI in consecutive matches. Thus, the author stands with Ganguly's claim of maintaining consistency when it comes to playing XI. However, the author also backs Kohli as a smart cricketer and based on the conditions, changes do need to be made to get the right combination.