Move over Dhoni, Kohli is doing great

Virat Kohli’s love affair with the Adelaide Oval had its fair share of twists and turns, but in the end, Team India’s 48-run loss to Australia in the first Test on Saturday cannot be termed a tragedy.

Almost three years ago, Kohli had scored his first hundred overseas at the same venue in January 2012. In the 35 months since then, Kohli’s journey in international cricket has been a fascinating one.

The charismatic Indian became the second skipper on debut after Aussie Greg Chappell to score two centuries in the same match. As one who has rewritten so many records in recent years with his sublime batting, Kohli’s contribution was worth its weight in gold — not just in terms of runs, but how he galvanised the team to believe in itself.

On a final day track where there was a "rough" and uneven bounce, about the only time Kohli erred was when he mistimed a pull off lion-hearted finger-spinner Nathan Lyon to lose his wicket. At that time, the equation was that India needed 60 runs in 17 overs with four wickets in hand. But minus Kohli and prolific opener Murali Vijay, India lost the plot.

At the post-match conference, Kohli spoke exactly the way he had led on the field — all positivity and no remorse. Yet, he could not hide his sadness when he told the media: “I’m only hurt because we didn’t cross the line when it looked pretty bright for us.”

For someone who was leading abroad for the first time in a Test match, the pressure on Kohli was huge. Both Australia and India had gone through a gamut of emotions in the buildup to the series after the tragic demise of Phil Hughes.

Kohli was greeted first up by a Mitchell Johnson bouncer in the first innings that hit his helmet, but the way he kept his cool and batted with authority showed how classy a batsman he is.

The stand-in skipper was all at sea in the Test series in England this summer, but in Adelaide, Kohli’s batting was a delight. He has three centuries at the same venue and, at the same time, his ability to inspire confidence in the Indian side is praiseworthy. We have had many captains before and each has his method of dealing with the situation.

Chasing a score of 364 runs in a possible 98 overs, there was only one approach which Kohli advocated — try and go for the target. At the tea break, it looked as if Kohli and the boys would pull off an incredible win before Lyon weaved his magic with a 12-wicket haul in the Test.

Usually, there is nothing to celebrate in a defeat, but the manner in which the Indians played showed they were ready to compete hard against a side which Kohli described as superior.

There was drama, excitement, good cricket and a bit of trauma as well as Aussie skipper Michael Clarke’s cricketing career is as good as over thanks to the injuries he battles now. Those who watched Clarke slam a durable hundred in the first innings will appreciate how he braved the pain barrier.

From the Indian point of view, if Kohli’s batting was all about positivity and not letting the Aussie bowlers get on top, full marks to Vijay for doing justice to the opener’s slot. That he agonisingly fell short of a hundred on Saturday made for sad viewing but this man has a huge role to play in the next three Tests as well.

Quite often, the lament about team India is how the batsmen have to make up for the deficiencies in the bowling. Varun Aaron and Mohammed Shami failed and the strategy of going in with four specialist bowlers again comes under the scanner.

Ishant Sharma had spoken on day three about how this Indian pace attack is good and will be a potent force in coming years. Obviously, there is a lot for the youngsters to learn from Ishant and the way the Aussies bowled.

Then again, what is surprising is that the Indian batsmen, who are supposed to play spin better — at least on paper — struggled against Lyon on a track where he bowled his heart out.

You can complain that umpires Ian Gould and Marias Erasmus bungled with two decisions, which resulted in the dismissals of Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane, but with the BCCI not ready to use the decision review system, you will have to live with such "human errors".

If the bowlers have to improve, one cannot but feel sad that Rohit Sharma failed to justify the hype. At the same time, stand-in wicket keeper Wriddhiman Saha did reasonably well with the gloves, though as a batsman, you cannot compare him to Mahendra Singh Dhoni at this stage.

Given the positive energy which Virat Kohli has brought to the side, there is every reason for him to be persisted with as the skipper for the entire series. How fit Dhoni is needs to be assessed and to play him straightway in the second Test in Brisbane may not be the best idea.