India vs England 2016/17: India won't change much under Virat Kohli, feels Jonny Bairstow
What’s the story?
England’s Jonny Bairstow feels that India will pretty much play the same brand of one-day cricket under Virat Kohli as they have done over years under Mahendra Singh Dhoni. “It does not change whether it’s Virat or MS. Virat’s captaincy won’t be dissimilar to what MS has done over the years,” said the wicketkeeper-batsman.
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Jonny Bairstow has been in good form on the Indian tour. The 27-year-old scored 352 runs in the Test series, batting with pleasing assurance particularly against India’s spin bowlers who were otherwise all over the English batsmen in their 4-0 drubbing.
Bairstow also had a decent outing in the warm-up match against India A in which he scored run-a-ball 65.
The heart of the matter
Jonny Bairstow was speaking about the England preparations ahead of the India-England ODI series starting on January 15. The batsman knows that India is a major threat at home and will continue to be so under Virat Kohli as they were under Dhoni for years.
The Yorkshire native also conceded that India’s spin bowlers will continue to pose a major threat even in the ODI series. The batsman feels that England team knows the kind of skills that Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja possess and the batsmen will have to be on top of their game if they hope to counter that.
What next?
Virat Kohli will lead India in the limited overs series against England beginning January 15. The team dynamics with Kohli as a captain and Dhoni as a player will be intriguing to watch.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja had combined to pick up 54 wickets in the Test series to formulate India’s 4-0 series win over England. Both players have not played an ODI for a year. and thus you should expect them to be itching to get some match-winning performances in ODIs and prepare themselves for the Champions Trophy later in the year.
Sportskeeda’s take
The phrase “a leader must inspire or his team will expire” emphasises the importance of captain’s personality and the effect he has on the team. “A captain is as good as his team,” understates the role of the captain and considers him to be a part of the team as a whole.
Dhoni has set a benchmark to which all the future Indian captains will be judged. Kohli has shown the experience to lead the side and take Indian cricket forward. Comparisons in the captaincy styles are bound to be made between Dhoni and Kohli. All in all, it makes for interesting times ahead of the Indian cricket fans to see the new Kohli-Dhoni combination.