Kohli’s five-bowler strategy faces acid test
BOLD New skipper keen on a plan that was considered too adventurous in the past
COLOMBO: As he headed into the first training session in Sri Lanka, Virat Kohli arranged his bats against the wall at the National Cricket Centre indoor nets first. An elaborate stretching routine followed. The other batsmen too went into stretch mode, each one following his set routine — Shikhar Dhawan, for instance, shadow-pulling the stretch rope with his weaker right arm.
These are early days for Kohli as skipper. He has led in three Tests, standing in at Adelaide for a suspended MS Dhoni, forced to take charge in Sydney after the skipper abruptly retired while the rain-hit Bangladesh Test in June hardly tested his leadership skills.
Once the grip on the spare bat was fixed, it was unwavering focus that was on view as he faced throw-downs. The first job is to quickly find the old batting rhythm, which has tapered off a bit after the Australia Test series early in the year.
LEADERSHIP TEST Starting with the three-day warmup tie at the Premadasa Stadium on Thursday, he will be acutely aware that the Sri Lanka Tests, starting in Galle on August 12, can help set the benchmark for his leadership. The opposition is down after defeats against Pakistan, and weighed down by the sentiment of Kumar Sangakkara’s impending farewell.
As good a chance as any to dominate, if one doesn’t count the rainhit draw in Fatullah, India will play their first Test in the sub-continent since Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement series at home against West Indies in November, 2013. Four consecutive overseas Test series ended in defeats — South Africa, New Zealand, England and Australia. Personal highs are no consolation for team failure.
Kohli has set the marker for the team and his leadership by deciding to field five bowlers, a territory his immediate predecessors rarely ventured into. It was seen as too adventurous and diluting India’s strong point regardless of bowlers and pitch conditions — batting.
Interestingly, India’s record, so much in focus overseas, is modest even when it comes to success away to their two sub-continent rivals, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The Tendulkar era, starting 1990, is a nice reference point.
IDEAL NUMBER The fifth bowler, vital to show intent and get the 20 wickets, didn’t really find favour with Dhoni, India’s most successful skipper (27 Test wins), or the man whose record he bettered, Sourav Ganguly (21 wins). Ganguly, Virender Sehwag and Tendulkar all filled in to get that job done. The argument was that the fifth man invariably ended up bowling very few overs while playing only five specialist batsmen exposed a long tail.
So, will Kohli’s plan work? To his advantage, R Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh have Test centuries against their name while seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar too showed his batting skills in England. Even leg-spinner Amit Mishra is no mug with the bat.
Opener Murali Vijay backed the five-bowler plan as a positive challenge for batsmen, and bowling coach, Bharati Arun, backed that approach on Wednesday.
“If you look at any Test team that has dominated world cricket, it has always had five bowlers,” said Arun, adding, “the five-bowler concept is the best you can look forward to.” But that ambition was tempered by a hint of doubt, or perhaps pragmatism. “But if you could probably have a batting all-rounder, that would be very beneficial.”