The Adelaide Test has again brought to the fore the problems that Virat Kohli and the touring team management has with deciding on an eleven. Riding on the mistakes made in South Africa and in England, Kohli needs to understand that he cannot go the ‘whole hog’ way on a ‘horses for courses’ principle. Seeing the grass on the Adelaide pitch he opted for the 4 pacers combination which was nothing wrong but he should have taken insurance by adding a front line spinner in Jadeja when Ashwin was out with injury.
In hindsight taking Hanuma who was essentially a passenger in the team, though he got a couple of wickets and a few runs, Jadeja has far better credentials for that job. Right now we should have the automatic principle that Ashwin or Jadeja have to be in the Test team and if it is a turner both should play. Again losing the Adelaide Test highlights the fact that we start any series or competition with a lot of hype that we are the winners but more often than not we come out with a whimper particularly in away series.
In contrast the Aussies without Steve Smith and David Warner are putting up a close fight against the No. 1 Test ranked side in the world. That is what is called fighting the odds and coming out trumps. Another thing that Kohli needs to instil in the team is the approach to the game and the positive and responsible attitude that is to be shown while wearing the India cap. You will find that in an innings with runs to chase to win a match like at Adelaide, once Pujara and Kohli is out the team throws in the towel and gets out for paltry totals. This has been the pattern in the past also highlighted when Tendulkar was at the height of his prowess or even earlier when some of the front ranked had got out. The remaining players hardly play for team prestige and get out for irresponsible shots.
At Adelaide the way Ishant, Yadav and Bumrah batted in a cavalier manner at the tail during the second innings it would have put any player in a club cricket match to shame. What they should have done is make life difficult for the Aussies, stick around so that they feel the resistance and can savour the win. These are important issues that Kohli and Shastri, whose performance as a coach has come to be questioned, need to mull over before the Melbourne Boxing Day Test. As for Kohli’s aggressive behaviour on the field that has come to be talked about on both sides of the seas, there is essentially nothing wrong with it since he brings rare passion to the game. And as for the Aussies they have given us quite a lot of nuisance in the past and it is time that they got some of their medicine back.
