One game doesn't overshadow two years of hard work: Virat Kohli on picking Ajinkya Rahane over Karun Nair

Hyderabad: Putting all speculations to rest, Indian skipper Virat Kohli on Wednesday backed Ajinkya Rahane over Karun Nair for upcoming one-off Test against Bangladesh.

Nair, who became the only second Indian to score a triple century during the recently concluded five-match series against England, will miss out from the playing eleven now that Rahane is fit again.

Addressing a conference ahead of the Test, Kohli told reporters that one brilliant innings cannot overshadow two years of hard work by Rahane, whom he hailed as team's most solid batsman in whites.

"One game doesn't overshadow two years of hard work from another player. We need to understand what Jinx has done for the team in the last two years. He averages almost 50 in this format and he is probably the most solid batsman in our team in the Test format," Kohli said.

Kohli hailed Nair's triple ton as remarkable, but said it would be unfair to ignore Rahane's hard work in the last two years.

"Certainly, Karun was stepping into his shoes and what he did was remarkable. Sealing his spot as far as the squad was concerned was something Karun did. But as I said, you can't overlook two years of hard work from Ajinkya. He deserved to walk back into the team whenever he was fit," Kohli added.

India will take on Bangladesh in a one-off Test scheduled to be played at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Uppal, Hyderabad from February 9.