Ravichandran Ashwin is absolutely fine, will play in the second test, says Virat Kohli

India received a big boost going into the second Test against New Zealand at Eden Gardens as ace spinner R Ashwin was declared fit, and is set to play. While speaking to the media ahead of the Test, Virat Kohli said that Ashwin had recovered from the finger injury successfully and will play in the second test.

There were reports that Ashwin was suffering from a finger injury, making him a doubtful starter for the Eden Gardens Test. It was also reported that off-spinner Jayant Yadav was called into the Test squad as a cover for the Tamil Nadu-born spinner.

But Virat Kohli has dismissed both these claims and revealed that Jayant was brought into the team as the team management needed an extra spinner.

While speaking to the media ahead of the second Test, Kohli said, “Ashwin is absolutely fine and Jayant is not brought in as a cover. We had three quicks. So, we felt that we needed an extra spinner.”

The pitch at the Eden Gardens is a typical Eden wicket: Kohli

When asked about the wicket that will be provided at the Eden Gardens and the combination that the team will prefer going into the test, Kohli said the wicket that has been prepared is a typical Eden Gardens wicket and will be good for batting.

He was hesitant to speak about the playing XI and said that the combination will be decided according to the conditions.

Kohli added, “The pitch at the Eden Gardens is a typical Eden wicket which offers a lot for the batsmen. As a home team, we look to put pressure on the opposition irrespective of the wicket that was provided to us.”

India has not been in favour of the DRS since its inception. As a result, the hosts have witnessed several decisions go against them in the past. Kohli was not bothered about this and said that they are ready to think about their stance on the DRS in the future.

Kohli said, “DRS is something for which I can’t say yes or no. It is always debatable. We decided that we would not use DRS, so for us to then say that umpires made an error and it’s going against us, it’s not illogical. We want to definitely think about the DRS, but I can't make the decision sitting here right now.”

A closer look at the Eden Garden's wicket: Bit more grass than normal Kolkata wicket. However, cracks are expected to open up #indvsnz @BCCI pic.twitter.com/wImRBYfoaI

— Sarath Chandran (@ImSarathC) September 29, 2016