Shikhar Dhawan getting some runs was a big positive: Virat Kohli

PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

On whether these fours days affect the team's momentum going forward:

We have spent a lot of time as a team together in the past as well, so the last four days have not been a revelation or something very different. We have seen the guys, how they are in the off days, and the last four have been no different.

The momentum as well, I don't see any change in that, the mood is absolutely the same that we had in Mohali. We had a really positive day one, bowled the No. 1 side in under three sessions, bowled them out on a decent batting wicket, there were no demons in the wicket I can say for sure. And we batted pretty well of whatever time we had in the middle.

Shikhar (Dhawan) getting some runs was a big positive as well. All in all, we had been in a very good space and we have maintained that. Even in the last four days, we haven't really thought about what the rain is going to do, we have just reacted to how the weather has turned out which is very, very important. Thinking about the weather can put you off, which the team has not done, so I would like to give credit to the guys to still stay in the zone and react to the weather which is not in our control. Nothing has changed in the last four days at all.

On the rain-affected Test:

It was very disappointing, the second and third day were especially were very frustrating because we had a very good first day. The toughest task is to set up a Test match and then you have to win the important moments later on. We were on course to do that, to get control of the important moments of the game and capitalise. We had a good chance of putting South Africa under more pressure, but as I said the weather turned out to be in such a way that we had no control over it for the course of the next four days. It is always annoying for any side, even if you have the momentum or don't have the momentum, to come to the ground and have no play. The covers come off and the rain falls again. I think that was something that was disappointing. As far as the team's motive to play positive cricket is concerned, because we wanted to go out there and play, whatever time we could get in the game. Honestly speaking, if you say a day and half left in the Test match, it was unrealistic that we could have wished for a result but we were positive if we get fourth and fifth day that we could try and put more pressure on the South African team. But it turned out to be that we didn't have any more play after the first day which was out of our control, but it was indeed very disappointing, especially after the kind of start we had on day one.

On whether there need to be rule changes for rain-affected Tests:

I think in a Test match, if you don't have play for four days, having one extra day will not serve any purpose. I can understand if one day or two days are lost, then maybe some changes can be done accordingly like having a reserve day - that would make sense. But having no play for four days and having just one reserve day, I don't see any logic in that because there is not much you can do in two days in a Test match. We saw that in Bangladesh too and now again in this Test match. I don't know what the solution for that is, but if you have something like an extra day for each day that we lose in a Test match then a Test match can stretch up to nine days, which we can't realistically play. I don't think any changes can be made in the rules for that, because the format has always been the same and will continue to be the same. Sometimes you don't have control over weather and different conditions, so you have to take those things in your stride and move ahead with the same kind of mindset. Whatever happened here was not in our control, whatever was in our control we did quite well in that on the first day, and we will try to continue in the same vein for the rest of the series.

On flat pitches, and whether they are a concern:

As I said, Test matches need to have a wicket which gives you a result. So I am sure the people concerned, who are preparing the wicket or from the Association, will obviously relate to that fact. To keep this format as exciting, you need to have wickets that give you results, so I think that will be the basic idea of the administrators, I am sure. Because every ground wants to have an exciting game, wants to have a result. That ultimately is the main goal of hosting a Test match.

On Dhawan's (brief) return to form:

If you call scoring two hundreds in three Test matches struggling then I don't know what 'in-form' is! His last three matches, he has got a hundred in Galle, he has got a hundred in Bangladesh, unfortunately he got injured after and he played the first Test match after that in Mohali. So let's not be too hard on someone because of two innings or three innings. This is international cricket, you are going to play numerous innings and we have to be patient with players like Shikhar because he is an impact player, and we need to give him as much confidence as we possibly can. When he gets going he wins you the game, that is a surety. I don't think he has been out of form at all, he has been batting beautifully. Sometimes you will not get the scores that you desire, but it is important how you are playing at that moment. He is certainly hitting the ball very well, and as I said he got runs here which is good for his mental set-up. We don't see any issues with his batting or his confidence for sure. We have to let the individual sort of come into his own, not to put too much pressure on him. I am sure he is happy with the way he batted here as well, if he had more overs to bat he would have been 70 or 80 not out or possibly could have got a hundred as well if we had some amount of game left. He is that sort of player who can take the game away very quickly. I am delighted that he is feeling good about his batting at the moment and I am sure he would want to score big runs in this series and in future as well, every batsman wants to.

On batsmen not getting a decent hit out in the middle:

Not (a concern). As I said, everyone is in a good space. It doesn't matter, you know. You don't need to put a certain number or score in front of your name to make sure you make an impact. Someone scoring 30 runs also. You take (Ravindra) Jadeja's knock of 38 (in the Mohali Test). Nobody talks about it but it was as important as (Cheteshwar) Pujara's and (Murali) Vijay's runs in the course of the Test match, seeing the first innings and how it went. (Wriddhiman) Saha's 25-odd runs in the second innings was as crucial as that of Pujara and Vijay early on because that gives you a competitive target. This team is not worried about personal performances or putting numbers in front of names. We just want to go out there and win a Test. And if we feel someone makes an impact, even if he makes a 30, we surely let him know that 'your knock was as important' so that he knows he is making an impact for the team. We need to find the right balance between batting and bowling. You certainly need that to win a Test match and that's exactly what we did in Mohali. Day one here was a balance of both as well. I'm sure when you get going, any batsman wants to make it big like I said. And everyone is in that zone of performing for the team firstly and not worry about themselves getting to a 100 or 50. That's the most pleasing thing about the confidence and mindset of this team right now.

On whether he prefers to play some cricket even if the result is a foregone conclusion:

If we had proper two days of play even from fourth day to the end of the fifth day, we were still looking at it as a positive where we can bat for a full day and try to get as many runs as possible and then put pressure on the opposition. I am not saying that we would have certainly bowled them out, but you can actually put them under pressure even if we had two more days of play. That's how well we played on day one and that gave us the liberty to think of something like that on the fourth and fifth day. Apart from that, I am sure if you are batting or bowling, if you have decent amount of time left in the game, you want to go out there and execute what you are practising. Very honestly, if you have only the first day of play and then you get the last day, I would certainly want, as a batsman, to have some time in the middle to go out there and try to execute my plans. The other way around could be that 'I don't want to go out and waste an innings and get out'. I think that is the wrong mindset. You should always be prepared to play even if there are two hours left in the game. That's how you can execute what you want to and you will always be in the right mindset. Credit to the boys that they still wanted to play throughout and that's the right kind of mind-set to be in.

On whether having an all-rounder would help settle the team combination:

We have Stuart (Binny) in the side for that reason primarily. He's an all-rounder who can bowl you really consistent medium pace and can be very handy with the bat. Then we have Gurkeerat (Singh Mann) like you mentioned. (Ravindra) Jadeja is potentially the right kind of all-rounder for us. It's just about being in a confident zone (with him). We can play him as a front-line spinner or an all-rounder as well. That depends on what sort of space an individual is in. I think you have to choose an all-rounder according to the conditions. You can't be stubborn about saying 'This guy has ability and he will do the right kind of job in every condition'. Some people will be more effective in different conditions. I've mentioned in the past, this team is all about flexibility. We did not play Amit Mishra here, and he has been bowling really well in the last few months. But he understood that we probably needed someone like Stuart in these conditions. Because Bangalore always tends to do something on the last couple of days, that is the feedback we got from the guys who have played here and guys who have bowled on this pitch. There's no set combinations in this team. Everyone is ready to play at any stage and willing to perform for the team, which is a positive sign.

Saha filling in Dhoni's shoes

I really like Wriddhi's attitude. He's a very hard-working cricketer. He's willing to do anything the team requires. He's a brilliant wicket-keeper and very gutsy with the bat as well. He's got a very good first-class record, and gets a lot of runs in pressure situations. He's still finding his feet in Test cricket. I'm sure when he becomes more confident of his batting - he's very confident of his 'keeping that I know for sure - but when he becomes more confident with batting, which comes with whatever runs you score as you play more matches and the impact you make the game, he will be that sort of perfect No 6 or No 7 for us. He's someone that I see can handle pressure situations very well. Even in Sydney, in the last innings in that Test match, he hung in there for a very long time and played the fast bowlers really well. He's someone who can handle every sort of condition and attack that is in front. He has that sort of belief in him. When he gets more confident with the bat, you will see him developing into a batter (batsman) more than a batsman-keeper for the team as well in the future.