Anil Kumble hopes for India to churn out a result at Vizag

Two days prior to the start of the second Test match at Vishakapatnam, Indian coach Anil Kumble highlighted the fact that KL Rahul was indeed properly assessed before becoming the 16^th member of the Indian squad. However, Kumble deferred from answering whether Rahul would play or not although the probability of the 24-year old batsman featuring in the match is something quite obvious, to say the least.

Speaking about the first Test, Anil Kumble stated that he wasn’t one to pick errors from the batting performance in the fourth innings, one that saw the Indians flirt with a heavy Test defeat at home. He also added that had Cheteshwar Pujara taken the DRS review, the Indians may not have had as many hiccups as they would have in the match.

“It was a draw. The first innings saw both teams batting close to 160 overs so it was a challenge for the bowlers to pick up wickets. It was a good surface to bat on. I don’t like to read too much into the batting that happened in the 70 overs India batted on the final day.”

“Probably, if Cheteshwar Pujara had taken the DRS, it would have very well been 170/1 and we would not have focused more on the pitch. But, I thought that it was a good batting surface where there were six centuries, four of which came from England. It was a good Test match, but we could not get a result.”

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Kumble went on to add, “I think he (Pujara) felt that it was out. And there was just the matter of 50-60 overs to bat and that was perhaps all the more reason for him not to ask for the review. I don’t think you could blame anyone on that.”

Speaking about the conditions in Rajkot, Anil Kumble said, “I don’t think the Indian spinners performance in the first Test is concerning. Also, our batsman played 160 overs against them. So I don’t think there will be any worries. Our strategy and the playing XI will depend on the nature of the pitch. I haven’t seen this pitch. So, whatever the nature of the pitch is, we’ll adjust accordingly. Our aim is to take 20 wickets and win the match”

Finally, speaking about KL Rahul, Kumble asserted that the former was indeed back to full fitness. “It is still two days (to the Test),” said Kumble at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon. “Yes, Rahul is available for selection and you would want Rahul to be in the starting line-up, that’s the reason he has been included.”

“He had an injury in Kanpur, which all of you are aware of. And since then, he was not available for any of the Test matches against New Zealand, nor for the one-dayers. He has recovered now and as per the protocol, we wanted him to go and play a first-class match and today he got a hundred. In the first innings, he got 70-plus against Rajasthan. Since the match was happening very close to Vizag, it’s good to have him in the squad and he is available for selection.”

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