Virat Kohli showers praise on Karun Nair and Ravindra Jadeja

After registering a convincing win over England in the Test series, Indian skipper had a word of praise for his players. Virat Kohli led the side from the front as he plundered 655 runs in 8 innings at an average close to 110. Kohli rightly remarked that the series win was a team effort. Beating the number 2 ranked side, England, was no business. India started off with their backs against the wall in the Rajkot Test.

But as the series progressed, the performances just got bigger and better. The Indian captain reflected that this is just the beginning. He aspires to take the team to greater heights in the future. The Chennai Test was dominated by two names from the Indian side. Karun Nair led India’s response to England’s 477 with a mammoth unbeaten 303.

His efforts helped India post 759 on the board. Later, when India were expected to bowl out England in a day, it was Ravindra Jadeja who stepped up with 7/48. Skipper Virat Kohli heaped praise on both. Talking at the post match press conference, Kohli remarked that he has not seen an Indian batsman sweep as well as Karun Nair.

Praising the young lad, he quoted, “I have not seen him playing too much first-class cricket. I have seen him playing in the IPL against world-class bowlers. He is someone who had always showed characters; someone who could pull the ball well. He used his feet and could drag the ball well. I have not seen someone currently in India who sweeps so well against spinners.”

He also went on to call him a complete package. He said it is highly important for India to value a young asset like Karun Nair.

“He is just a complete package. It is very difficult to find guys like that which have such characters when it comes to batting and that they understand the game so well at such a young age. So, it is important to back guys like Karun. He was always our number one choice as a middle-order batsman and when the chance came for him in the third innings, he had done wonders for the team. I congratulate him. He delivered what we expected him to. He had exceeded our expectations,” he added.

Speaking about Jadeja, Virat Kohli remarked that Jadeja’s strength lies in bowling with nice pace. His accurate line and length often fetch him wickets.

“His strength is bowling at a nice pace. And making the batsman think about how long they can defend and that is his strength. If he is bowling that accurately for a long time, invariably the batsman will make a mistake. So, that is what we always banked upon as far as Jadeja is concerned,” Kohli quoted.