With Yuvraj Singh on a sick bed, Virat Kohli has a golden opportunity to cure India's tri-series' ills
With Yuvraj Singh on a sick bed, Virat Kohli has a golden opportunity to cure India's tri-series' ills
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One man's loss is an opportunity for another.
Virat Kohli couldn't have asked for a better opportunity to impress the national selectors than today's tri-series clash against Sri Lanka at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium.
Yuvraj Singh's absence from the match means Virat, 21, is all but sure of a place in India's playing XI for a must-win tie. A good performance here would mean Kohli will make a case for a World Cup call-up too.
As if Yuvraj's troubles with form and fitness were not enough, he has been diagnosed with dengue fever.
Even though Delhi man Kohli will be playing an opposition against whom he has figured in more than half of his ODI appearances (17 of 31), the odds are stacked against him.
Lasith Malinga, the speed demon for the hosts, has featured in only three matches against Kohli. And the right-hand batsman's numbers while playing in Sri Lanka, especially at the venue for today's match are pretty ordinary.
The test
Contrary to his career average of 45.08, Kohli has scored at just 28.42 runs per innings in eight matches in the Emerald Isles. And when it comes to Dambulla, the average drops to 19.33 in six appearances, with 37 being the highest.
Probably Kohli, just likeu00a0 any other youngster in the team, has found it difficult to negotiate the seam movement and bounce that this wicket offers. But skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni backed his young gunsu00a0 yesterday.
"The youngsters who went for practice would have certainly got a bit of seam bowling because the wickets were very damp and there was lush green grass on the wicket. They must have seen that. More than teaching or trying to change the basics, it is more about adapting to the mental side," said Dhoni, referring to technique against seaming conditions.
"Whoever is part of the national side is talented enough to deal with any kind of condition or situation. I think it is just the mental side that we need to train a bit," he said.
If Kohli can get his act right today, he would do himself, and more importantly his team, which is on the verge of being eliminated from the tournament at the half-way stage, a world of good.
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