The Indian cricket team will be taking on a potent New Zealand cricket team in a virtual do-or-die clash in a Super 12 stage Group 2 match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, on October 31, Sunday. Ahead of the clash, India captain Virat Kohli spoke about India’s sixth bowling option and a Trent Boult threat.

“It’s very important to have a sixth bowling option — whether through me or Hardik (Pandya). He should have to be fit to be able to bowl one or two overs,” Kohli said.

According to Kohli, it would be a game situation that would dictate if they require an additional bowler, which has been India’s bane over the past year since Pandya isn’t half as effective post his lower-back surgery.

“Game situation dictates when to use your sixth bowling option. In our last match, if they (Pakistan) batted first, I could also have bowled one or two overs.

“But in the second innings when we needed wickets, we just had to bowl our primary bowlers. It’s not that a team with six-seven bowling options doesn’t lose,” the skipper said.

Kohli confirmed that Pandya was “fine” as far as his shoulder injury was concerned.

“Hardik is absolutely fine, if you’re talking about the blow on his shoulder,” Kohli said.

“He’s (Shardul) definitely a guy who’s in our plans, constantly making a case of for himself. He is definitely someone who can bring a lot of value to the team.

“What role he plays or where he fits in, that’s something that I cannot obviously talk about right now. But yes, Shardul is someone who’s got great potential and he will add great value to the team,” Kohli added.

In the match, Kohli and Co will be wary of a Trent Boult threat. He can bowl brilliant unplayable left-arm inswinging deliveries that can prove too hot to handle for the Indian batters.

But Kohli downplayed the Boult factor.

“Obviously, he’s motivated to do what Shaheen did. We have to be motivated to counter that and try and put pressure on him and the other bowlers as well. So that’s basically the game anyway.

“It all depends on how we take the field mentally and how we counter that. We played against all these bowlers for a long period of time. All that matters now is when we step out onto the field what kind of mental frame we are in,” Kohli said.