'That's not my job to sit and discuss here' - Virat Kohli on Ajinkya Rahane and Pujara's place in India's Test side

South Africa defeated India in the three-match Test series coming from behind on Friday (January 14). They had lost the opening Test match but came back well to pocket the series against the number one side in the world. A lot of questions are being raised after India’s series loss and not for the first time, places of Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara is the topic of discussion.

The duo has been enduring not so great form for a majority of the last couple of years. They played an odd crucial knock on this tour as well but haven’t been consistent for too long now. While Rahane scored 136 runs in six innings at an average of 22.66, Pujara could only muster 124 runs in as many outings at an average of 20.66. The numbers aren’t great by any means and Virat Kohli came across a question on their place in the press conference.

However, the Indian skipper didn’t comment anything on the matter stating that it is the job of the selectors to take a call. But Kohli admitted that there are issues with India’s batting which didn’t click as a unit in the South Africa series at all. “We need to step up with the bat. There is no running away from that. To answer this question, I can’t sit here and talk about what’s going to happen in the future.

“That’s not for me to sit here and discuss. You have to speak to the selectors to find out what they have in mind, that’s not my job,” Kohli said in the post-match press conference.

They have done well in crucial situations, says Kohli

Moreover, Virat Kohli stressed on the fact that the management continued to back Pujara and Rahane for their contributions the team in the past. He also pointed out the way the duo batted at the Wanderers in the second innings which helped India set up a competitive target.

“As I said before and I will say again, we have continued to back Cheteshwar and Ajinkya because of the kind of players they are and what they have done in Test cricket over the years. They have done well in crucial situations, you saw that in the 2nd Test as well with that important partnership in the 2nd innings which got us to a total that we could fight for,” Kohli added.