A facet of Virat Kohli's personality which is causing him harm as the Indian captain
Without a shadow of a doubt, Virat Kohli is the best batsman of the current generation. He has so much going for him- his attitude towards excellence, intensity, never say die attitude and aggression. Aggression is probably his biggest asset as a batsman which makes him want to win matches for his team in all conditions and against every opponent, also, it prompts him to take on endless responsibility as a batsman for team India.
This aggression which is an integral part of Kohli's personality has been much talked out especially since the time he has taken over as the Indian captain. Being the captain of the Indian team he has been under the scanner for his on-field and off-field behavior.
Many experts say that this attitude of fighting fire with fire helps Virat Kohli to perform better and allows him to keep his focus and intensity going, while some others say that he will mellow down with the passage of time.
There is very little doubt that this aggressive attitude is serving him well as a batsman, but the same cannot be said about Virat Kohli, the captain of the Indian team. Being the leader of the Indian team he gets to make some tactical and selection decisions along with the coaching staff and the area where Kohli's aggressive behavior has hampered him the most as a captain is the team selection.
Being a player with an aggressive mindset, he likes to have players with the same mindset in the team, while in isolation it is not wrong to expect players to be aggressive, but, expecting each and every player to play aggressively even if it going against their natural game effects their performance and morale of the team.
There are few examples of this kind of approach in team selection by Kohli. Shikhar Dhawan who is an aggressive batsman got a long rope in Test's in spite of his deficient technique and repeated failures in overseas conditions, same can be said about KL Rahul. Due to this approach on Kohli's part deserving players like Shaw and Mayank Aggarwal did not get as many chances as they deserved.
Another example of this approach would be the exclusion of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane from the Test team every now and then, both these players are classical Test batsmen who are not in limited overs scheme of things and have a reputation to play slowly and steadily.
During the first Test of the ongoing Australian tour, selection of Rohit Sharma over technically more tight Hanuma Vihat is another example of this approach. On difficult pitches, these kinds of stable batsmen win you games rather than out and out attacking batsmen. India often encounters tough conditions in overseas assignments which makes these kinds of batsmen even more special.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar is another player who is a victim of this kind of approach by Kohli. Kumar is probably the slowest bowler amongst the Indian pace battery whereas it's well known that Kohli's aggression makes him go for pace, this has often resulted in Bhuvneshwar's exclusion from Indian squad in favor of faster bowlers.
During the South African series, exclusion of Rahane and Bhuvneshwar from first two Tests and second Test respectively raised a lot of eyebrows. Their comeback into the team for the third Test helped India to win that match and redeem themselves.
During the second Test of the ongoing tour of Australia, once again Kohli went with Umesh Kumar instead of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Bhuvneshwar Kumar would have been a handy bowler on the grassy Perth wicket considering the fact that he can make the ball talk in these conditions. Moreover, his lower order batting would have been really handy and India could have avoided playing with a big tail in the Perth Test.
Kohli's aggression at times makes him go against logic as a captain and his lopsided team selection often cause India to go for players with flamboyance rather than substance. India's struggles in England and South Africa, in spite of Kohli's individual brilliance, can be attributed some extent to this lack of substance in team selection.