Kohli’s tactics not helping India
And if Rahane’s lack of runs against Sri Lanka was due to some other reason that only the dressing room is privy to, perhaps he should have been left at home. And there is no word on Umesh Yadav — effective with new and old ball through 2016-17 and into the Test series in Sri Lanka. Is he seen as not good enough? Otherwise, it can be argued what Jasprit Bumrah did, Umesh could have done better.
Cheteshwar Pujara’s calmness has benefitted the team countless times, even at home in tough situations. But in 2016, Virat Kohli said he wasn’t impressed with the poor strike rate of the No 3 batsman. Then coach Anil Kumble stepped in, dismissing talk of strike rate in Tests, boosting Pujara’s confidence. Ravi Shastri and Pujara made a happy picture with a leopard’s statue on Friday. One assumes the coach had plenty to tell the batsman. But Pujara’s dismissals in both Tests point to lack of focus. The skipper’s talk of ‘intent’ could only have caught the batsman in two minds.
Pujara, a picture of calm, on the second morning at Newlands, played a shocking poke first ball after lunch. Not the best athlete in the team after surgeries in both knees, he took two suicidal runs in both innings in Centurion.
Virat the batsman has continued to be sublime, but the captain should realise continuity is as vital as intent. In the Galle Test of 2015, in Kohli’s first full series as skipper, Kohli and Shastri advocated “aggression”. But a tame loss forced them to tone down and India rallied to win the series.
Cricket historian Ramchandra Guha has pointed out in his column in the espncricinfo website that what works for Kohli need not work for the rest.
A thin line divides aggression and recklessness. Imagine if the national selectors take a leaf out of Kohli’s disruptive playbook by appointing a new skipper every
series?