‘Emotionaffected batsman Virat’ Sourav Ganguly admits ‘great batsman’ Smith proved him wrong
Exskipper Ganguly believes an ultracompetitive approach against India’s great rivals led to the batting dip
Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly feels the captain in Virat Kohli, desperate to win the Test series against Australia, let his emotions slip and that affected his batting.
In a column written for the International Cricket Council, Ganguly said: “Against Australia, probably he (Virat) was so consumed by wanting to win as captain that he let his emotions affect his batting.” Kohli, having been prolific for the preceding 12 months, scoring four double centuries in four series in a row, flopped with the bat against Australia, although India came back to win the series 2-1.
RARE FAILURES
In three Tests against Australia, Virat aggregated just 46 runs in five innings. His highest score was 15. His series average was a measly 9.20 as the India’s best batsman as he hit below 10 for the first time in his career.
Since his debut, in 16 series of two or more Tests preceding the Australia series, Virat had done this poorly only twice. On debut in the West Indies in 2011, he averaged 15.20. And in the 2014 series in England, he managed just 13.40 across five Tests.
STAYING CALM
Ganguly wrote: “This will also serve as a lesson for Virat. He’s such a precocious talent, I hope he cools down and gets back to scoring big again.”
After losing the first Test in Pune, Virat, who is usually very animated on the field, became even more aggressive. Australian players and the country’s media too kept targeting him and that Virat was getting affected became increasingly evident as the intensity and vigour kept rising while celebrating the fall of every Aussie wicket.
That meant every time he stepped out to bat, he wanted to dominate. In the process, he reached out twice in five innings to deliveries early in his innings, which otherwise he would have left alone. And edges were inevitable. He fell leg-before twice, and was bowled on the other occasion shouldering arms to left-arm spinner Steve O’keefe.
Ganguly has no doubt about what Virat can achieve as a batsman. He hoped with the standard Virat sets for himself, he would be back in form in no time. “The batsman (Virat) surely is one of the best in the world because he has set high standards for himself, both in terms of fitness and the hunger to score big.”
The failure belied the form he carried into the series, having slammed 204 in the one-off Test against Bangladesh, with a shoulder injury suffered in the third game in Ranchi preventing Virat from playing in the final match in Dharamsala and making amends for the blip earlier in the series.
skipper Sourav Ganguly admits he was twice proved wrong in his assessment while pointing out the class and resilience of two of the finest play ers of this generation. Ganguly’s forecast that India will rout Aus tralia 4-0 was proved wrong as the visitors won the first Test before losing 1-2.
In his column for the ICC, he explains why he was off-target “Not because India didn’t play well but because Australia’s cap tain Steve Smith decided to make the transition from a good bats man to a great batsman during this series. The century he scored in Pune ranks amongst the best by a visiting batsman in India — and I have seen many.”
On a Pune pitch that was turn ing square, Smith scored a bril liant 109 to help Australia record a 333-run win. “Maybe playing on that pitch in Pune was a mistake as it allowed even an ordinary spinner like Steve O’keefe that much bite,” Ganguly wrote.
“India was always expected to beat New Zealand and it recorded a clean sweep. England, I had thought, would give India the toughest fight. To be honest, it probably was the weakest oppo nent. That series was played on good pitches and remember how England won most of the tosses and yet couldn’t capitalise on starts. England never stood a chance if its bowlers were going to concede so many runs.
“Bangladesh never stood a chance and it was during that Test that I predicted a 4-0 brown wash against Australia. I was proved wrong.”
Ganguly also thought the newly-appointed skipper Virat Kohl may not bounce back after the Galle Test defeat on the 2015 tour “But I was wrong. Like a good leader Virat sensed the prob lem, spoke to his team and what followed since rein forced my belief in him.
“The last 12 months have taken me back to my playing days, when I was the captain and Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid VVS Laxman, Anil Kumble Javagal Srinath, combined with youngsters like Yuv raj, Harbhajan, Sehwag Zaheer, Dhoni and Nehra to pitchfork India as one of the most daring teams in the world.”