Virat Kohli hints at playing Ishant Sharma and Prithvi Shaw in the Wellington Test

Virat Kohli, the Indian skipper, is delighted with Ishant Sharma’s performance in the nets after he recovered from his ankle injury. Kohli reckons that the speedster’s experience of playing in New Zealand is likely to come in handy for India going into the two-match Test series. Kohli has hinted his participation in the opening Test, starting February 21 at the Basin Reserve in Wellington.

Ishant tweaked his ankle during his run-up in a Ranji Trophy game at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. From there on, he became uncertain for the games versus the Black Caps. But recently, he passed the fitness Test. Kohli is overjoyed to see him bowl with sheer pace and showing accuracy.

“He (Ishant) looked pretty normal and pretty similar to what he was bowling before the ankle injury. He is hitting good areas again and he has played (Test cricket) in New Zealand couple of times, so his experience will be useful to us. It was really good to see him bowling with pace and in good areas,” Kohli was quoted as saying in the pre-match press conference.

Prithvi is a talented player, says Virat

The captain also hinted at including Prithvi Shaw over Shubman Gill for the first Test. Shaw would be making his India return following his debut series against the West Indies way back in October 2018. He recently bagged a duck in the tour-match against New Zealand A, but turned up with a quick-fire knock in the second innings of the same match.

“Prithvi is a talented player and he has his own game and we want him to follow his instincts and play the way he does. Look, these guys have no baggage and are not desperate to perform in any manner,” Virat stated.

Kohli wants Shaw to take a leaf out of Mayank Agarwal’s books. In was in the tour of Australia in December 2018 when Mayank made his international debut at the MCG. “They don’t have any nerves to do well overseas. Like a clear head with which Mayank played in Australia, Prithvi can do the same in New Zealand,” Virat added.