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 happy with DRS
Asked if he was happy with it, Kohli said: "Yes, I am pretty happy with it. It just confirms the decision that's been made on the field. And if you want to challenge the umpire, it's not just you telling him that he could have made a different decision, you have the option of checking it again and figure out if it is wrong or right. I think it is pretty fair for the game."
Meanwhile, Kohli termed the ball tampering allegations against him as a ploy to "shift focus from the series" as "ICC would have spoken to him" had there been any iota of truth in the matter. "I think it's just to take the focus away from the series to be honest. It happened in Australia when South Africa won the series. I'm surprised the issue of what I've been told came up in Rajkot but there was no mention until the result in Vizag," Kohli said. "To me a newspaper article doesn't matter over the decision of ICC. We as cricketers respect that only. And allegations and speculationsIJ I don't read newspapers so I'm not aware of these things, someone told me and I laughed it off. Some people are trying to take the focus away from the series — good luck to them. But we're totally focused on what we have to do," Kohli said firmly.