'Chance for Parthiv to grab 2nd keeper's slot on away tours'

Indian captain Virat Kohli says comeback man Parthiv Patel "respects" the fact that he is a stopgap keeper but expects him to make full use of the opportunity so that he can grab the second wicketkeeper's slot when India goes for away Test series.
Parthiv is all set to play a Test match after eight years due to first choice glovesman Wriddhiman Saha's tendonitis.
"We are pretty excited to have him back although we won't have thought about (Wriddhiman) Saha getting injured at this stage. It's part of the game. Parthiv understands the situation he is in. I am pretty glad he respects that and he's still looking forward to the opportunity and try to make a mark. He knows when we plan to take two wicketkeepers away, this is the opportunity."

"Luckily Parthiv's attitude has been great. I don't see any nerves. He's played enough cricket to understand this kind of position and situation. He's pretty excited to be back and make a mark. He's been performing consistently well in first-class cricket for the last few years. He's guy who has experience at the Test level," the skipper backed the choice of the selectors.
Whether it's by choice or design, Kohli's first XI has always had changes according to surfaces and the skipper said that it was the Galle Test match against Sri Lanka where India lost chasing a sub-200 total.

"This is something that we made pretty clear when we lost the game in Galle and after that we had a pretty clear chat that we are going to play people that we think are suitable for different venues. The team bought into it.

"Even with the batting order changes, we have made changes, I have gone up and down the order as well and other batsmen are keen to do it as well. I think it sends the message across that the eventual motive is for the team to win."
Kohli spoke about a how a change in mindset can change a player's approach. He was referring to a question asked about Moeen Ali being the tormentor during the 2014 series in England but has not made any impact so far in two Test matches.

"Again, you are talking about two phases that are very different for a cricketer's mindset. To me, back in 2014, every bowler looked difficult because I wasn't in a good mindset. But when you are playing well, when you are in a good zone, you feel that you have an upper hand against any bowler that you play and that's something that you need to carry on to the field as well.
"Not taking anything away from Moeen, I think he is a pretty terrific bowler. He makes an impact in England as well, so he understands which lines and lengths to bowl, what speed to bowl at."

For him winning is a job that he is being entrusted with for being a professional cricketer.
"It is a challenge, definitely. It's a challenge to repeat the same things the team has been doing for a while but I think that is what professional cricketers are picked to do and that's something that we take as a responsibility but not as a burden.
(REOPENS DEL 9)
"We played good cricket and won and played bad cricket and we lost a game of cricket, that's how simply we look at this defeat. We just want to take the learning from this game forward and improve and come back stronger in the next game. I am sure we are going to come back with more intent in the next game and put Australia under pressure straight from ball one," Kohli said.

He also said that they knew the stupendous run, which saw India win eight out of the last nine Tests since the beginning of this home season, will come to a stop at one stage.
"I don't want to dwell more on this match after such a lengthy undefeated spell of 18-19 Tests matches. If you play badly in one game, it's part of cricket. I don't know whether people thought we could not lose at all but we knew if we don't play good cricket any team can beat us. A few positive things can be taken away, but only from the bowling aspect", he said.

He agreed that Steve O'Keefe, who spun the Indians out in both knocks along with senior colleague Nathan Lyon, did not turn the ball as much as his own spinners.
"Our bowlers' turned the ball more, so we could not get the edges. Those who turned the ball less got more wickets than someone who did not turn the ball that much. You can get out on flat wickets too if application was not good. Our bowlers bowled really well.
"If you don't apply yourself out there in the middle, any bowling attack will look dangerous; even a part-timer can get four wickets if you don't apply. I certainly would like to think that was the case with our batting line up in this game.

"We wanted to pick up 20 wickets and we managed to do that (although) not in time. We did make breakthroughs, (only) we could have done them quicker."
He also did not blame the crumbling pitch for the defeat and said it was similar to tracks on which the team had played and done well in the past.
"The wicket was not very different from the turners we played in the past. We just did not play good cricket.