‘Youngsters showed character’

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India skipper Virat Kohli feels it was “unfortunate” that Parvez Rasool could not get a game during the just-concluded ODI series against Zimbabwe but insisted that the Jammu and Kashmir all-rounder just did not fit into the team’s bowling plans during the tour.
“I’m not really bothered about what’s being said about people getting chances, because a lot of people who have played these five games have been sitting on the bench for two months or so,” Kohli said when queried about not including Rasool, who could have become the first J&K cricketer to play for the Indian team.
“Parvez realises we had a set bowling combination and we didn’t want to make any changes to that. It was unfortunate he didn’t get a game, but it just didn’t go according to our plans. Maybe in future when he plays more series he’ll get a few games to test his skills out,” he said.
“We didn’t want to take any game lightly and I didn’t want to change too much in the bowling department. Mishra has been sitting out for a while so we wanted to give him four or five games.”
Reflecting on the triumph, Kohli said it was heartening to see debutants coming up with solid performances.
“The guys who got a chance for the first time showed a lot of character, especially someone like Mohit Sharma and (Jaydev) Unadkat,” Kohli said.
“Ajinkya Rahane coming back into the team, scoring some runs. So it was pretty good to see all the guys performing and playing their roles.
“Amit Mishra sat out for two months on the road regularly and then came out with 18 wickets in this series, so there were a lot of great performances by individuals and some good team efforts as well,” he added.