SA vs IND 2018: Virat Kohli Justifies Decision To Skip Warm-Up Game

SA vs IND 2018: Virat Kohli Justifies Decision To Skip Warm-Up Game.

While India’s decision to not play any warm-up game ahead of the challenging series against South Africa has raised a lot of eyebrows, the men who matter most – Virat Kohli & Co.- hold a counter view. The India skipper, on Saturday (December 31), justified the team’s decision to not play any practice game, saying the track on offer would not have been even “15 percent” of what will be at the Newlands- the venue for the first Test scheduled to start from January 5.

“You are never sure whether you are getting quality practice games or not. We would rather have practice sessions that are in our control,” Kohli said during his media interaction after the team’s first practice session.

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“If you look at the wicket we are playing on right now, it’s not even going to be 15 percent of what we will get in the game,” he added.

The 29-year old went on to express his dislike for the practice game, saying: “There is no point wasting two days, guys going in, scoring quick fifties and coming out. We would rather have them do two sessions like today, get into the Test match zone and test ourselves.

“It doesn’t matter if you have played three practice games if you are not in the right kind of frame of mind. If you are in a good head space and have had good practice session then that is good enough as well,” he added.

Team India began their preparations for the much-awaited series on Saturday. Kohli & Co. opted for two practice sessions and experimented with different simulations, preparing the wicket according to the conditions they wanted to prepare themselves for the challenging days ahead.

“We can try and prepare the wickets the way you want to. But if you are playing a two-day game there is no chance of changing the wicket at different times of the day,” Kohli said.

“Here we have more freedom to put more water on the wicket, roll it, make it harder come tomorrow’s practice session and you have conditions you want,” he added.

Meanwhile, India will be keen to start the series on a good note and continue their winning run in the longest format of the game. India’s record in the rainbow nation has been nothing short of a disaster so far. Since 1992 when India first toured the African country, the visitors have won just two of the 17 Tests they have played in South Africa. Of the six-Test series in South Africa, the Proteas have won five with a 1-1 drawback in the 2010/11 season being India’s best return. However, expectations are sky-high from the Virat Kohli-led team which has registered a record nine consecutive series wins and is yet to lose a series under their skipper.

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