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Head coach Rahul Dravid revealed that stalwart batter Virat Kohli was close to bowling an over against Sri Lanka and indicated that Kohli could be a possible sixth bowling option with two other batters for the Men in Blue against South Africa in the ongoing World Cup.
After Hardik Pandya got ruled out of the entire tournament due to an ankle injury earlier on Saturday, India were left shorthanded in the bowling department. Since Pandya's absence, India have stuck to their five bowling options to finish off the 50 overs, which consist of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja. As India gears up for the clash against the high-flying Proteas, South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma pointed out that the Men in Blue could struggle if one of their five bowlers has an off day. "They obviously only have five bowlers, so they can, I guess, be put under pressure if one of their bowlers is not on their day," Bavuma said. Dravid admitted that Bavuma is stating "facts," but they have the option to call Kohli to bowl a couple of overs, who was in contention to bowl in India's thumping 302-run victory against Sri Lanka. Kohli has already made his debut with the ball in the World Cup against Bangladesh to finish off Pandya's over after he got injured. "He just said the facts. The fact is that we will not be in a position to have a proper sixth option. We do have the option to call upon our wrong-footed, in-swinging menace [Virat Kohli]. And with the crowd behind him, I'd back him for a couple of overs there in a few wickets. The crowd was demanding his bowling in the last game. We came very close to giving him an over," Dravid said. Not only Kohli, Dravid also named Suryakumar Yadav and skipper Rohit Sharma can come in to bowl if the need arises. "And then we've got Surya who can turn his arm over a little bit. And then Rohit's bowled a bit as well," Dravid added. He went on to point out that the Indian team before the World Cup played against Australia in October with just five bowlers and won both games. "So, look, yeah, you're right. I mean, obviously, the sixth option is something that Hardik gave us. But you're right as well that we have been playing the last four games without the sixth bowling option. We also played a couple of games in the Australia series before the World Cup without the sixth option. We won two of our games, both in Mohali and in Indore, when we played only with five bowling options in those games as well," Dravid said. With both teams having already qualified for the semi-final, the top-table clash will take place at the Eden Gardens on Sunday. (ANI)
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