Bonding amongst the teammates makes me extremely proud: Virat Kohli

Team India is all prepped up to take on their sub continental neighbours Sri Lanka in the first Test of the bilateral series starting tomorrow at Galle International Stadium. Talking in the press match conference prior to the encounter, skipper Virat Kohli gave certain insights about the current squad. Kohli spoke about the team’s campaign this season, Hardik Pandya‘s value to the side, and the key takeaways from the last 18 months.

India will be playing their first tour on Lankan soil after two years. The Men in Blue last toured the island nation in 2015 and won the three match Test series 2-1. However speaking about the team’s current endeavour, the skipper is optimistic. Kohli feels that the team needs to work as a single unit and is proud of how the teammates are bonding.

Lauding the team, Virat said, “Just to see the responsibility taken by such a young bunch of players; to go out there and make a difference for the team. Even the substitutes that sit on the sidelines, their efforts, their energies, their concerns for the team when they are running in to provide to with the essentials. It’s great to see them also almost feeling like they are part of the playing XI that’s on the field. That’s the kind of culture that has been created.”

KL Rahul to miss the first test

Speaking about KL Rahul’s unavailability in the first Test, Kohli highlighted that the team has only two other openers. Rohit Sharma has never opened in Test cricket and the skipper is not keen to experiment and would prefer to go with specialist openers in the team. The 25-year-old batsman was diagnosed with the flu on Monday night and will take a couple more days to recover. Rahul had stayed back in the Sri Lankan capital to undergo tests and will catch up with the team later.

“We only have two more openers. Rohit has never opened in Test cricket and we don’t see that kind of experiment happening here because we have specialist openers in the team and they will obviously be starting this game,” the Indian skipper said.

“KL is down with flu unluckily but it is not serious and he will take a few days to recover from that. He is a very established player and he has done very well for us in all formats over the past year. He is a very solid player and these kind of scenarios present opportunities to other players in the team to step up and show what they are capable of. Have a solid performance and stay with the team for a longer period and get more chances to play in the future. So our players look at these scenarios as opportunities,” he added.