Karun Nair made full use of the opportunity handed him when Ajinkya Rahane was ruled out due to injury for the fifth Test against England in December by scoring a triple century .
With Rahane now fit for the one-off Test against Bangladesh, there was a dilemma on the hands of the Indian think-tank over whether the Mumbai batsman should be brought back directly into the team.
Indian captain Virat Kohli put an end to the debate at the pre-match press conference, saying Rahane will play.
Nair may still play, but his position is dependent on what balance India strike with their bowling attack.
“Karun did well but we cannot ignore what Jinx [Rahane] has done over the past two years. He has put in lots of hard work and has performed,” said Kohli.
“We are lucky that we have a bench strength. We have a pool of 20-30 players from which we can choose.”
This is the first time ever that Bangladesh are playing a Test in India and Kohli feels that Mushfiqur Rahim’s side should be playing more Test cricket.
He further added that the Indian team will not take this game any differently compared to any other match.
“It is a historic moment. Bangladesh are a good side. They have good batsmen. They did well in New Zealand. But they don’t play enough cricket. They should play more to understand the mindset of Test cricket,” said the Indian skipper.
“We will play like we do against any other team.”
We cannot take any aspect of Bangladesh lightly, says #TeamIndia Captain @imVkohli on the eve of the one-off Test #INDvBAN pic.twitter.com/4Nl9YOP68d
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 8, 2017
