Ravi Nyayapati –
Indian test cricket enters a new era under the captaincy of one of its most extravagant personalities.
Virat Kohli has a made a name for himself over the last couple of years.
Many would agree that he is the David Beckham of Indian cricket.
But unlike the Soccer Superstar who had a divided opinion over the true depth of his football skills, Kohli is a sterling performer. In fact, some of his early career statistics are comparable to the great Sachin Tendulkar.
Celebrity Package
Kohli presents a total celebrity package for sponsors and commercial partners.
He has eye-catching looks, a strong personality, an exuberant field presence, a popular girlfriend and most importantly a consistent performance on the field.
He is a prolific batsman.
He made clear his intent of an aggressive style of play when he captained tests in former captain MS Dhoni’s absence in Australia. That drew criticism from purists who branded his style as careless and arrogant. But a certain level of arrogance, backed by well-planned aggression, is what makes captains successful.
Aussie examples
Australians are perhaps perfect examples. The successes of Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh were only possible through an onslaught of powerful batting, intimidated bowling and bullish on-filed tactics. They were criticised, but drew glory and dominance.
India’s such approach was first noticed when Saurav Ganguly took the helm in 2000.
He also fronted abuses on his so-called anger and overconfidence.
Off field, Ganguly is one of the finest gentlemen. However, on the ground, it is his change in attitude and state-of-mind that made Team India a great force in Test cricket.
India was under the captaincy of Dhoni when they achieved the Number One status but as Dhoni then pointed out, it was the captaincy of Ganguly and Anil Kumble over the years that led them to the pinnacle of Test Cricket.
Nightmare Skipper
As successful as Dhoni was, his latter captaincy years in tests were a nightmare as the performance dwindled with each game. The pressure bubble burst when he hung-up his test gloves abruptly during the Australian Tour in 2014. A 50-over format World Cup, followed immediately by the Indian Premier League helped Indians erase the painful memories of the team’s Test drubbing by the Australians.
Test matches for India have finally resumed. After a meaningless one-match series against minnow Bangladesh, India take on Sri Lanka in the three match series.
We can expect class games although rain will also play its part, a hallmark of cricket in Sri Lanka this time of the year.
Bowling line-up
Kohli’s approach will certainly see a free licence issued to opener Shikhar Dhawan in adopting a dominating opening partnership, something Virendra Sehwag did successfully with Gautam Gambhir. He is also likely to pressure batsmen to play their part and thus ensure the bowling department is complete with five specialists in the line-up.
Dhoni persisted with a part-time fifth bowler in addition to retaining non-performing players.
Kohli is more direct and impatient. In his book, test cricket basics are blatantly obvious – if you cannot take 20 wickets, you cannot win matches, no matter how great the batsman are. Having five bowlers is equally as important as having quality batters in the line-up. Kohli has stronger conviction of this compared to Dhoni.
A ‘Ganguly approach’ to Test Cricket is a much needed change.
The current line-up, with the inclusion of youngster Lokesh Rahul, is at the crossroads of redefining India’s Test dominance.
