Need to mentally prepare for challenges, says Virat Kohli

The biggest challenge for India in South Africa is the bounce on the pitch, something that is rarely seen on Indian wickets. Indian batsmen struggled to get going in the first Test, against a menacing South African pace attack. Captain Virat Kohli, ahead of the second Test, has opined that the Indians will have to mentally prepare themselves to face the challenge of bounce.

Having lost by 72 runs at Cape Town, India will look to bounce back into the series in the second game that begins on Saturday. Some of the areas Kohli will have to address is the openers Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay, both of whom failed to perform in the opening game. Also, Rohit Sharma’s dismal performance may mean Ajinkya Rahane will replace him in the second Test.

Kohli’s view on the challenge of the bounce

He said, “One must not get surprised by the bounce here. You have to maintain composure, when you get sudden change of bounce when you experience in South Africa. There are other pitches around the world which bounce a lot but here bounce is steep, and it can be quite steep from length also. I think those are things that you need to mentally tune yourself to get over, and adjust to, and accept that this is going to be a major part of batting in South Africa.”

The Indian skipper is also not expecting much difference in the pitch for the second Test, adding that the bouncy pitch will make the challenge exciting.

“We actually wanted it to be that way so that both teams are into the contest, provided they play some good cricket. So, we’re pretty happy to see the wicket, how it behaved in Cape Town that gave us many opportunities to stay in the game and allow us to make comebacks whenever we were put under pressure. This pitch will again test us to play our best cricket and that is something that we’re looking forward to,” Virat Kohli signed off.