Virat Kohli is confident they have a replacement for Hardik Pandya in the squad

Team India is on a high after winning a Test series in Australia for the first time in history. Virat Kohli and his men are now set to take on Australia in a 3-match ODI series. While India is the favourite going into the series, the prospect of missing Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul might hamper the team balance. Pandya’s ability to contribute with both bat and ball would be very useful especially in Australian conditions.

There are chances that both the players might be suspended by the BCCI for their insensitive comments and the reaction it has got from the masses. Indian captain Kohli is very calm about the situation and thinks that the team has a proper replacement for the all-rounder Hardik. He pointed out that India played with a finger spinner and a wrist spinner in the ODI series vs Windies.

He argued that Team India is lucky to have a backup option like Ravindra Jadeja who can do the job. “We played in India against the West Indies with a finger spinner and a wrist spinner. So, it’s good that we have someone like Jadeja who can do the allrounder’s role if a scenario like that occurs,” Kohli said while talking to the media ahead of the ODIs.

Pandya situation does not worry Virat Kohli

Virat claimed that the team is flexible enough to deal with different situations. He argued that the team should always be ready to make changes according to the situation.

“So we are not too stressed as a team (about the Pandya situation) because you’ll always have things that you can do in terms of creating that balance for the side. And hence, we keep players who can provide balance with bat and ball as a backup anyway,” he added.

The world no.1 batsman said that they will not be distracted by these external factors. He argued that the controversy around KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya should not take anything away from the achievements of this team.

“At the end of the day, we need to go out there and play cricket. And all these external factors are not going to derail our motivation or the preparation for the World Cup. And they are definitely not going to dampen anything that we’ve achieved,” he asserted.

Individual opinions should not affect the team

Kohli further added that winning the Test series in Australia was a huge achievement. He reiterated that comments of the duo were just their individual opinions and the team has nothing to do with it. “…I don’t think anything can take away from what we’ve done as a team in the Test series. And anything should not be taken away from that because as I said, those are pretty much individual opinions.” the Indian skipper stated.

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