The big test for Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli has to rise as captain

“I want India to dominate for at least next five years. We certainly have the talent. We certainly have the ability. All that it will take is how you manage them and keep them together. This team is a strongly knit unit. They want to play for each other. They don't want to play for themselves. That is my vision.” said Virat Kohli while speaking to The Cricket Monthly.

It’s good to see Virat Kohli having the goal of where he wants his team to be in next five years, but it has to be backed up by performance and results. He had already captained two Test matches in Australia, but he couldn’t emerge victorious on both the occasions. Now that he is starting as India’s permanent Test captain, Kohli has more significant tasks on hand.

Getting the team’s act together

The bigger challenge for Virat Kohli is not getting runs as captain, but it would be getting the team’s act together. There’s no doubt that Kohli will score runs as captain and, in fact, he enjoys leading from the front. Also, captaincy also makes Kohli more responsible with the bat and it has also brought the best out of him with the bat, scoring three Test hundreds as captain. However, getting the team’s act together is where needs to work on.

There will be phases when the batsmen will shine, and the bowlers will have an ordinary day and also there will be phases when batsmen will have ordinary day and the bowlers will step up. An ideal example would be the consistent batting collapses happened to India in the last four overseas trips and consequently, India went on to lose those Test matches from the position of strength.

Also, on few occasions, the bowlers have also had the opposition team on the rope. An ideal example would be the Wellington Test where the bowlers had the Kiwis on the rope at 94 for 5 in second innings. With still 152 runs behind, Dhoni’s men were expected to inflict innings defeat on New Zealand but Brendon McCullum and BJ Watling shared a wonderful partnership and helped New Zealand post 680 runs on the board.

There was a lack of proper leadership in that Test match, and Virat Kohli has to ensure that he puts the performance together and click as a unit which is important for overseas tours.

Tactical nous of captaincy

Another big challenge for Kohli is how well he leads his team on-field in Test matches. In Test matches, a captain has to be more proactive, and he should also have the ability to take decisions based on the match situation and the game of opposition team. Kohli should be more exposed on tactical grounds and up his thinking while leading his troops in Test matches.

There will be phases in Test cricket where you won’t get wickets. But still staying positive, and talking to your bowlers about the plan, and focusing on what needs to be done will fetch you good results.

An ideal example would be Brendon McCullum who stresses the importance of playing an aggressive brand of cricket but at the same time he has results to back it up. He is not only aggressive captain but he is also a tactical captain who reads the batsmen’s game and match situation well, and by combining these two he comes up with a plan.

For instance, in the first Test match when Alastair Cook and Joe Root were stretching together a partnership, McCullum didn’t back off and wait for the batsmen to make mistakes. He kept talking to the bowlers of whether he is happy with the plan and also, McCullum gave in and out type field to Matt Henry at times, for the short ball tactic.

In the second Test match at Leeds, in the second innings England were chasing 455 for victory. They lost two quick wickets on day five from 44 for 0, and Ian Bell was batting at the wicket. He was not moving his feet well against Mark Craig and was little uncertain with only two close-in fielders. On seeing that, McCullum adds two more close-in fielders with silly point and Kane Williamson at leg slip and was eventually rewarded with the wicket of Bell.

The above instance explains how Brendon McCullum was calculative in his captaincy along with aggression.  Also, McCullum was quickly responding to situations and reading the batsmen’s game and performance of his bowlers on that particular day. This is what Kohli should focus on. He needs to be little calm, and talk to his bowlers of what needs to done when things are not going your way and always focus on what needs to be done even if a mistake takes place on-field.

With India set to tour Bangladesh for a solitary Test match, Kohli needs to bring aggressive mindset into play by playing five bowlers if it’s a batting paradise. Also, he needs to work on the combination of the squad for the tough Sri Lanka series and also for the four-match Test series against South Africa. If he can get the act together and starts winning Test matches against top teams, it will give Kohli enough confidence before the tough overseas assignments.

If India are to be the team to beat in Test matches, Virat Kohli will have to rise as captain.