Bowlers are match winners in Test format: Kohli

The Board of Control for Cricket in India announced the squad for the first two Tests against Australia starting from February 23 at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune.

Asked if Australia will be a bigger challenge than England, Kapil responded: “If I say in Virat’s words, then England team is far better than Australia and if the way the Indian team is playing, one would say India surely have a better chance”. “It’s all about us making sure that as individuals we’re in the right mindset to go out and succeed and if guys want to get in those kind of battles then go for it”, AFP quoted Smith as saying. Off spinner R Ashwin and left-arm tweaker Ravindra Jadeja will be the first-choice picks, but offie Jayant Yadav and Chinaman bowler Kuldeep are handy enough if Kohli is tempted to throw in a third spinner. I always believed that you can score as many runs as you want but if you don’t take wickets you won’t win Test matches.

Australia, who are yet to win a Test in India since upsetting the hosts 2-1 in the best-of-three rubber way back in 2004-05, will commence their tour with a three-day warm-up game here against an India A squad.

On Friday, Kohli became the first batsman in the history of cricket to make have double centuries from four successive Test series, after once again scoring 200 against Bangladesh in the one-off Test at Hyderabad. He had injured his knee during the England Test series.

Since then, he has become the game’s most risky bowler, topping the wicket-taking charts in 2015 (62 at 17.20) and 2016 (72 at 23.90).

Three years and 20 Test matches into his Australian captaincy, Smith has enjoyed numerous highs at home but also the humiliation of a series sweep at the hands of an unfancied Sri Lanka and a ruinous loss down under to South Africa.

Sometimes you just have to let the pitch do the work for you, Smith conceded.

India’s top order looks settled and in good nick so triple centurion Karun Nair is unlikely to play in Pune. “It is not only (about) spinners, but they have some great fast bowlers”. Shami is considered to be India’s best pace bowler and an expert at reverse swing.