With another green wicket expected for the third and final Test at the Wanderers, India skipper Virat Kohli on Tuesday did not rule out an all-pace bowling attack as his side looks to avoid a whitewash against South Africa.

“Chances of anything happening are very bright,” Kohli told reporters when asked if there’s a chance India will go with an all-pace attack.

“There is a lot of grass on the pitch so we would definitely look at that option {of all-pace attack}. I’m sure both teams would be thinking about it,” he added.

Having lost the previous two Tests, India have already conceded the series, however, no Indian team has never been whitewashed in South Africa.

India have used spinner R Ashwin in the first two matches, however, with results not going their way, it is likely that the team management could go for a radical move and play without a spinner.

An extra batsman could be brought in his place. Ajinkya Rahane, who was seen batting extensively in the nets ahead of the third Test, is expected to come into the playing XI in Johannesburg. The team-management was criticised for dropping Bhuvneshwar Kumar despite his fine performance in the opening Test.

“We have taken 40 wickets so far, and we have to figure out what is the best way for us to pick up 20 again in this Test match,” Kohli said. “We are going to have a discussion on that and the other combinations of the whole team. We will have a clear picture by the end of this afternoon,” the 29-year-old added.

Kohli said that the team was looking at the positives and was hoping his bowlers could once again give them a boost on a track which is likely to assist the pacers.

“It’s similar to Cape Town but with a bit more grass on it, which we expected. It’s going to be a very lively wicket throughout the course of the Test match,” he said.

“We have looked at positives from the first two games. Not many times overseas have we picked 40 wickets in two Test matches. I think that is a big boost for us,” Kohli added.

Rectifying mistakes

The skipper, who scored a valiant 153 in India’s first innings of the second Test in Centurion, felt that the last Test was a good platform for the rest of the batsmen to rectify the errors committed in the previous two games and produce a noteworthy performance.

“The batsmen are looking forward to rectifying the mistakes from the first two games,” Kohli said. “It’s a chance for everyone to step up and change things around. That will build characters, individuals and personalities,” he added.

“...As I had said before the series, whoever bats better, is going to win it; which happened,”

Asked if the mistakes were due to a lack of preparation time ahead of the series, Kohli said that the responsibility lay with all stake-holders. However, he was quick to clarify that the limited period of preparation was not a valid excuse for his team’s insipid performance.

“It’s a collective responsibility. Those factors have definitely been a point of consideration for a while,” he said.

“I personally don’t think that we did not feel prepared at the start of this series. We had a week to prepare and went ahead with that. We are not going to think of outside factors that made us lose.”