Opinion: Virat Kohli is an aggressive batsman but a defensive captain
A lot has been written about Virat Kohli's batting - how he likes to dominate bowling and how he likes to fight fire with fire. There is no defensive bone in the body of Virat Kohli the batsman, but, can the same be said about Virat Kohli the captain?
To analyse the approach of a captain, there are two broad things one can look at: his team selections and his on-field tactics.
Talking about team selection, it appears that Virat Kohli is afraid to take risks with newcomers, which is a sign of a defensive mindset. Under Kohli, players like Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Murali Vijay were given a longer rope than they deserved.
In spite of available alternatives in the form of youngsters like Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal and Hanuma Vihari, these players were given a lot of opportunities even when they failed to deliver repeatedly, and that has costed the Indian team dearly during the three overseas tours in 2018. When a captain is hesitant to bring in youngsters in a team, it certainly shows that the captain is more concerned about not losing a game rather than winning it, which is a defensive mindset.
Kohli's on-field decisions also leave a lot to be desired at times. There have been instances when he has opened up the field too soon for the new batsman, which allows the incoming batsman to pick up the singles easily, and milk the bowlers without taking many risks.
Also, there have been cases when he has not been willing to keep sufficient players in the catching positions. At times, when the opposition loses quick wickets, it is imperative to keep enough players in catching positions to keep the pressure on the new batsman, but Kohli quite often does the opposite.
With results not going his way, maybe this is the time for captain Kohli to call on to the aggressiveness of Kohli the batsman, and reap rewards.
The opinions expressed in this article are of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views of Sportskeeda.