The team management's patience with Rishabh Pant seem to be over as Virat Kohli confirmed on Tuesday that Wriddhiman Saha will play the first against South Africa in Visakhapatnam.
Pant's place in the side has been under the scanner for a while but his records in Test cricket seemed to be in his favour. However, bad run in ODIs seem to have gone against him as the team management decided to go ahead with Saha, who will be returning to the Test side for the first time since January 2018.
Kohli went on to say that Saha is the best keeper in the world and fit to start the series for the hosts.
"Yes Saha is fit and fine to go. He is going to start the series for us. His keeping credentials are for everyone to see. He has done well with the bat whenever he has got a chance," said Kohli on the eve of the first Test.
"It was unfortunate that he was out with an injury. According to me he is the best keeper the world. With these conditions he starts for us," he added.
Kohli also said that the whole plan was to ease Saha into proceedings rather than rush him into action.
"We felt like Rishabh, given the opportunities, had done well. Although Saha was always going to start but we felt like just let him ease back into things rather than just forcing him into starting immediately.
"We all felt he has just come back, although he is keeping well, batting well but, it's fair to give Rishabh a few more opportunities because of what he has done in the past season for us," Kohli explained.
The skipper said Saha was always going to be the first choice in the traditional format.
"...Saha was always the one we would back as a pure keeper in Test cricket. He has done well under pressure situations in the past for us, so it was just about finding the right opportunity and the moment to bring him back in.
"And you need to be wary in a team environment where you understand when to bring a player back and when to give another guy more opportunities" he reasoned.
"I felt for now, it's the right time for Saha to come back and get in to his zone," said Kohli.
Pant has so far played 11 Tests, scoring 754 runs at an average of 44.4 and slammed two centuries in Sydney and The Oval respectively. Saha, on the other hand, has meek returns in comparison with the bat. The Bengal wicketkeeper-batsman has raked up 1164 runs from 32 Test at an average of 30.6. The 34-year-old has three centuries to his name -- one each against West Indies, Bangladesh and Australia.
Kohli also confirmed that India are set to go into the game with two spinners in the form of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, who is set to return to the fold after missing out on the two Tests against West Indies.
The Indian captain also gave the nod to Rohit Sharma as the opener/
"We are in no hurry with Rohit Sharma as opener. He will be given time and space to find his rhythm and the way he wants to play at the top," Kohli said at the pre-match press conference.
The first Test starts on Wednesday at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam.
