Like politicians’ unfulfilled promises before the elections haunt them afterwards, Virat Kohli is finding it difficult to explain his brave pre-tour assertions after every major overseas series. One big difference between a political leader and cricket captain is the former can say things at public rallies, whereas a skipper has to answer all the pointed questions by the media.
A team plays to win, failing which it tries to force a draw, certainly not to lose. One cannot find fault with what Kohli believed and said, as he is under scrutiny every playing day as the leader of the pack. There have been a number of stalwarts who took their teams to victory by the sheer weight of their performances and so are those which came in a losing cause.
In his first Test as captain he accepted the challenge of Michael Clarke to score 366 in the fourth innings, leading from the front, but the team fell short by 50 runs. He scored a hundred in each innings and in the four- Test series aggregated close to 700 runs with four centuries. On the other side, Steve Smith scored more than him to not only take the series away from India but also the captaincy after Clarke. Kohli’s batting in the last four years has been phenomenal and when he goes back to Australia in a couple of months, he will be going there as the world’s best batsman. What will rankle him is that his effort is not enough to win matches for his team.
After the series loss at Southampton, Kohli bemoaned the lack of finishing on his team’s part as India could have won it 3-1 or tied 2-2, so close it was. As he said, the series was competitive and hard-fought. He honestly believes his team did not make many mistakes. He promised not to fold in the last Test. That grit should also be seen in selection.
There is speculation that Prithvi Shaw might come in. But in whose place? Will Kohli drop his safest slipcatcher KL Rahul or the better of the three openers, Shikhar Dhawan. Will he play an extra batsman at a venue where spinners enjoy a better life, by dropping a bowler or add an extra spinner like England did in the last Test? Ashwin’s showing at Southampton exposed his fitness, never mind what experts feel about his pivoting foot at the point of delivery or his front-on action, comparing it with a side-on Moeen Ali.
His bowling looked pedestrian after four wickets on the first day of the first Test. Ashwin was also under pressure as the seamers continued to perform. But if he is not fit, Ravindra Jadeja will come in. Hardik Pandya is unfairly discussed in the context of his batting and bowling abilities, comparing him with more illustrious all-rounders. There was hardly a match in any of the formats when he did not get a wicket or hit some useful runs.
He is on the right path, but needs to be given clear instruction as to what his role is. If Pandya and Rishab Pant had played their natural game like Sam Curran, the result could have been different. The southpaw did try in the second innings, but with a bit of understanding he would have made a correct choice of the shot that led to his dismissal. Kohli’s confidence should rub off on his teammates who looked a lot better in the fourth Test, with Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane lending him a help hand in the middle order.
If India have can rectify the mistakes Kohli listed, they can still end up with an honourable scoreline, like they did in South Africa by winning the third Test.
(The writer is a veteran commentator and views expressed are personal. He can be reached at sveturi@gmail.com)