Virat Kohli Hints At Transition For India Pacers In Near Future

In a precautionary move, Virat Kohli has hinted that India are scouting for possible replacements for the ageing fast bowling unit consisting Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav.

Jasprit  Bumrah, 26, has many more years left in him but the major concern is with Ishant Sharma (32), Mohammed Shami (29) and Umesh Yadav (32), who can all run out of fuel in near future.

These guys are not getting younger: Virat Kohli

Shami and Ishant are on the top of their games as far as the Test format is concerned. The senior pacers can also pass on valuable inputs to the youngsters with their experience.

However, Kohli feels guys who can replace them should be up and ready, as the current crop of players will not age back and so the team management needs to be ready.

“These guys are not getting any younger so we need to be very careful and very aware and accept that these are situations that can potentially come up and have guys who can replace them and ready up and running as soon as possible,” Kohli said.

“…we do need to recognise who are the next three-four guys that can keep the standard up because you don’t want to feel a void suddenly if a couple of guys miss out,” Kohli gave enough indications that the management is zeroing in new talents with an eye on future.

Navdeep Saini has come into the system: Virat Kohli

Fast bowler Navdeep Saini, who played under the captaincy of Virat Kohli for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) before making a cut to the national team has been already involved in the transition system.

Kohli, also revealed, the team management have two-three more players in sight who can be included in near future.

“That’s what happens in cricket. Mini transitions happen every now and then, and you need to be aware of them,” Kohli said.

“(Navdeep) Saini is one who has come into the system. We have two-three more that we have an eye on,” he said.

“We need to be very careful and we need to understand that this is one factor that has got us a lot of success and we need to make sure that standards are kept high,” he added.