England vs India 2018: Sourav Ganguly's word of advice for Virat Kohli the skipper
Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has a word of advice for Virat Kohli after India's loss against England in the first Test of the five-match series at Edgbaston. The visitors put up a good fight in alien conditions and quite comfortably, picked 20 wickets over the course of four days.
The batsmen, however, failed to rise to the occasion and except the skipper, none crossed the 50-run mark in the Test. Though Ganguly praised his batting, he suggested that Kohli should trust his players a bit more and give them longer runs in the XI.
"If you've to win a Test then everyone has to score runs. The other batsmen have to score 100's as well. Virat Kohli played very well otherwise India would have been out of the match on the 2nd day itself.
"I don't think the captain is responsible for the loss. If you're the captain then you'll be criticised for a loss the same way as you're congratulated for a win. One criticism for Kohli is that he should give a consistent run to his batters & more time before dropping them. The failure against swing in English conditions can't be used as an excuse any more as everyone knows that its what you get when you come to England.
"The captain should give confidence to his players. It's his team & only he can change their mindset. He will have to sit with them & tell them that if he can do it so can they. He should give them time & tell them to go out & play without any fear. It is true that after continuous chopping & changing of the playing XI, players can get afraid that after all these years they've failed to garner the faith of the team management," Ganguly wrote in an Instagram post.
The former Indian captain called out Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane to step up as well as they have scored runs in English conditions before.
"This was the first Test in a 5 match series & I think this team has the capability to come back & play well. Ajinkya Rahane & Murali Vijay will have to show some determination since they have scored runs in these conditions before."
Kohli, with a century and a half-century in the match, has now moved up to the top of ICC rankings, dethroning Steve Smith.