Kohli’s team should think of tougher overseas challenges
new delhi — A series in Sri Lanka has always been tough and no captain before Virat Kohli won backto-back series in the island nation. The record books don’t show that India played a Sri Lanka team weakened by the retirement of two of their all-time greats in the last two years.
After playing 13 Tests at home last season, India are still playing in the subcontinent. Their record is winning eight series on the trot and they are just one series shy of the record nine-in-a-row by Australia.
Now they are all likely to catch up with Australia’s record beating Sri Lanka on their return visit to India this winter. Now is the time to take a look at Kohli’s highly rated team before they embark on the
13 Tests at home last season, India are still playing in the subcontinent
tours of South Africa, England and Australia in that order. Add New Zealand thereafter. Four long tough tours on diverse pitches in dissimilar conditions. It is difficult to beat any team in its own backyard and more so these four teams.
Every time India do well in familiar conditions the team appears to be well settled with all boxes ticked before going overseas. Even the Fab Four and the world class spinners Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh in the ranks, the team could only win the odd Test, but not the series in Australia and South Africa.
Before every tour overseas, be it in 2010-11 or 2014-15, it was said India had the best chance of winning the series in both England and Australia, but that never happened. Again it will be said that South Africa is not the team that it was when they visited the last time.
India will point to South Africa’s loss to England (1-3) for the first time in two decades, and the Proteas’ stock at a low with no definite word about AB De Viliers’ availability for Tests. AB appears to have played his last Test match as he wants to prolong his career till the 2019 World Cup, playing in shorter format of the game and his absence has badly hit their middle-order batting.
Looking at India’s batting, Ravichandra Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha and Ravindra Jadeja have more often bailed them out or provided them with a huge cushion to bowl to attacking fields. Even though Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane have all notched up big hundreds, they have not done together and consistently.
They will be worried about No 6. Can they afford to bat Ashwin there overseas, having tried out favourties in the name of all-rounders in the subcontinental conditions and not playing six batsmen? —