If team wants, Kohli should play: Gavaskar

New Delhi, March 24 

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar today said that Virat Kohli should consider playing in the final Test even if he is not fully fit if the team management feels his presence will boost the side in the series decider. “Virat personally would want to go in only if he’s 100 per cent fit because that is what he would have expected from any other player in the team. He would not want another player in the team to hide an injury because it is a five-day Test,” Gavaskar said.

“So, Virat personally would want to be 100 per cent but if the team feels he is a must-have for this deciding game, the team will have to convince him... 

“Even if he is 70 per cent fit, the team management will have to decide whether his presence is going to energise the team. If so, then Virat will have to play,” said Gavaskar.

To back his argument, Gavaskar gave an example from his playing days when he asked Kapil Dev to play on the final day of a Test match in Melbourne in 1981 even though the legendary pacer was not fully fit.

“I asked Kapil on the fourth day evening whether he can bowl for just one hour on the final day. Australia were three down for 40-odd runs and they needed to score 100-plus runs to win the Test. We needed seven wickets. Kapil bowled with pain killers and took five wickets, and the rest is history,” said Gavaskar.

“I knew his value to the team. His 70 per cent fitness was enough for the team. So, the Indian team management will have to decide similarly in Virat’s case too,” he added.

In case Kohli does not play, Gavaskar said Australia will not have the mental edge over the Indians. “I would say no team has the edge, there is not much gap between the two sides. The Indians will not be too disadvantaged even if Virat does not play. They have the ability to regroup and pick themselves up. But without Virat, the Aussies may feel a hurdle is out of their way,” he said. — PTI