Why India vs South Africa series will be a test for Virat Kohli
Skipper Virat Kohli can look back at the 2-1 series win in Sri Lanka with a fair amount of satisfaction. Having lost the first Test due to one bad batting session and Dinesh Chandimal making a big difference, the India captain’s aggressive strategy did work against a side which played very average cricket.
It has been a fairly smooth transition for Kohli after he took over the reins from MS Dhoni in Australia where he led in two Tests, then went to Bangladesh before the Sri Lanka tour was toutedas the full series with a lot of promise.
After losing to Pakistan at home, the Lankans were not able to regroup. On hindsight, more emotion seemed to have been spent on Kumar Sangakkara’s farewell during the second Test. The third Test, in particular, was one where fansgot to see Kohli’s aggressive intent and how he marshals his resources.
This has been one series where the opening combination was jinxed. Murali Vijay was in and outand with Shikhar Dhawan ruled out with a fracture, shuffling the makeshift opening pairs did not yield the desired result.
That was till Cheteshwar Pujara was pressed to the top of the order and he delivered with a centurywhere purists were treated to virtues of traditional Test batting — patience and skill.
To have expected Pujara to score at a fast clip was unreasonable as the situation demanded hestay at the crease, build his innings and score the big ton.
Talking about Pujara, there were many unanswered questions as to how and why he was keptout of the playing XI till the third Test.
Some said he did not find favour with the team management but the bottom line is when Kohli gave him the chance, he delivered. The opening combine conundrum apart, Kohli also had to juggle batsmen at the crucial Number 3 slot where Ajinkya Rahane now looks well settled.
Kohli has also backed his bowlers well, where spin and pace were the ingredients in the five-bowler strategy — something new for most of us while watching Team India.
Kohli has repeatedly promised aggression, though it is not necessary to mention that in every conversation with the media. To talk of aggro in the dressing room is a good thing as you can keep the boys fired up. Kohli would have learnt his lessons in man management after the Ishant Sharma incident when the Delhi speedster got involved in ascrap with Dhammika Prasad.
Kohli and Ishant have known each other from their early daysplaying for Delhi. However, Kohliis now not just a teammate and being captain needs to temper the fire inside a player like Ishant, who has been suspended for a match!
To be fair to Kohli, he showed faith in his bowlers as on the fourth day of the third Test he did not press for a needless declaration.
The bowlers had sufficient time to do the damage with Ishant picking up two to set up the victory.
It has been a good mix from the bowlers. If Ishant and Umesh hurled the red cherry atover 140 kpmh consistently, Ravichandran Ashwin bowled beautifully throughout the series and was the deserving Man of the Series.
In a five-bowler strategy, one bowler does tend to beunder-bowled, as was thecase with Amit Mishra. Butthen, he finished with 15 wickets in the series, which is a very decent tally.
A word of appreciation for Kohli while handling the field placing is a must. He did not keep on bothering the bowlers with ‘chats’ and while standing in the slips to the fast bowlers, he read the pace and bounce well.
In one instance, Kohli stood further up at second slip and grabbed the chance after KL Rahul had bungled with Chandimal against a fiery Ishant. Looking ahead to the forthcoming series against South Africa at home, one could be sure it will be a hard one.
The four Tests are bound tooffer plenty of action and Kohli knows there is no room for error. There has been talk that the Indian cricket board will prepare wickets which will assist spin this season in first-class cricket.
Knowing the weakness of the Indian batting against spin bowlers, to expect Kohli to ask for turners would be too much against South Africa.
If one looks at the South African bowling attack, it is very potent. Spinner Imran Tahir hasthe experience of playing in the IPL, while the South African pace attack featuring Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and company is top-class.
Indeed, this is the mother of all battles at home in a long time where quality of Test cricket will be very high.
As reported by Mail Today, Kohli prepared himself well for the Lankan series by working hard on his fitness. There is a month-long gap before the India-SA series and hopefully, the skipper will motivate the boys to focus harder on the virtues of fitness and staying injury-free during the break.