How life changes for a sportsperson of such a high stature like Virat Kohli can be gauged from the fact that within a week what was termed as a great touring side is now being touted as a side with many selection blunders throughout the course of the year. So, How much water does this claim hold? The player Kohli, for his own part, has been simply magnificent. A hundred in South Africa, England and Australia in the same calendar year proves beyond doubt why he is the best player in the world. He has led the scoring charts in every series, be it runs, hundreds or the sheer class which he possesses has left not only the Indian fans but fans worldwide amazed at his consistency and will power to overcome the odds everytime the team is in trouble. As for Captain Kohli, things don't seem to go as smoothly though. He has experimented with the team combination far too often, making glaring errors , most notably being dropping vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane for the first two tests in South Africa , playing two spinners at a surface which was the most conducive to fast bowling and playing 4 quicks in Perth where the man of the match turned out to be the opposition spinner. One can argue that Australia playing 6 left handed batsman in their line up was a possible reason for not picking Jadeja. However, it exposed a long tail from no.8 to no.11 which could not contribute or support the other batsmen. Compare it to the opposition tail and this is one of the reasons India ended up losing the match. The form of the openers has not helped either, who have this year not registered a single 100 run opening partnership or spent enough time in the middle to not expose the middle order to the new ball. Add to that the injury sustained by Prithvi Shaw and India have a lot to ponder for the third test beginning in less than a week.
So, where do Kohli and India go from here? One might be tempted to rope in Mayank Aggarwal owing to his brilliant first class records recently. But does bringing in a youngster in the middle of the series against the most potent bowling attack in the world help the team's cause? Another option calls for trying Rohit Sharma for the opening slot , a position which he has so cherished in the white ball game as to being the only cricketer to score 3 double hundreds. Or do we select the original combination of K.L. Rahul and Murali Vijay and give them one more opportunity? Captain Kohli has a lot on his plate as far as the team selection goes. One thing is for sure , this series will determine whether Ravi Shastri's claim of this team being the "best touring Indian team ever" has any credibility to it or not and whether India should be looking to diversify its options if they fail to win a series against an opposition bolstered by their bowling attack but without two of their best batsmen in their ranks in David Warner and Steve Smith.
So, where do Kohli and India go from here? One might be tempted to rope in Mayank Aggarwal owing to his brilliant first class records recently. But does bringing in a youngster in the middle of the series against the most potent bowling attack in the world help the team's cause? Another option calls for trying Rohit Sharma for the opening slot , a position which he has so cherished in the white ball game as to being the only cricketer to score 3 double hundreds. Or do we select the original combination of K.L. Rahul and Murali Vijay and give them one more opportunity? Captain Kohli has a lot on his plate as far as the team selection goes. One thing is for sure , this series will determine whether Ravi Shastri's claim of this team being the "best touring Indian team ever" has any credibility to it or not and whether India should be looking to diversify its options if they fail to win a series against an opposition bolstered by their bowling attack but without two of their best batsmen in their ranks in David Warner and Steve Smith.
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