Virat Kohli and cp. suffered a humiliating defeat a the hands of the English team at Lord’s, however, here we come up with 3 reasons why Kohli should remain Test Captain of India
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The Indian cricket team recently suffered an embarrassing defeat against England in the second Test match of the five-match series at Lord’s in London.
The visitors lost the match by an innings and 159 runs to go down 2-0 in the series. The loss highlighted the glaring mistakes in the batting technique of Indian batsmen, who failed to combat the swing bowling of James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and Sam Curran and looked clueless at the crease.
After the first two Tests, the Indian leadership has come under the radar and a lot of questions have been raised about Virat Kohli – The Captain. Many questions came up about Kohli’s team selection in the first two Tests. Dropping Cheteshwar Pujara for the first Test was highly criticized and the selection of Kuldeep Yadav in the second Test also raised many eyebrows.
Also Read: Virat Kohli slides down in the ICC Batsmen rankings
Apart from team selection, Kohli’s on-field tactics have also been questioned and sometimes deemed very unusual.
But considering Kohli’s record as Test captain till now and the current scenario of Indian cricket, we look at 3 reasons why Virat Kohli should continue as the captain of the Indian Test team.
Kohli’s record as Test captain has been very impressive till now
Virat Kohli has already breached a number of milestones as Indian Test captain. Ever since he became the captain, his intentions have been crystal clear that Team India will always set foot on the field to win the Test match.
The 29-year-old has captained India in 37 matches so far and has won 21 of them. Only Kohli’s predecessor, MS Dhoni is ahead of him as far as Test wins are concerned, with 27 victories out of 60 matches. The number of wins under Kohli is currently equal to that of the great Indian captain, Sourav Ganguly, who had won 21 matches out of the 49 matches he captained.
If we consider the number of overseas Test victories, Team India have already won 8 Test matches under Kohli, which is more than their victories under MS Dhoni. Dhoni has 6 victories out of 30 overseas Test matches, whereas Ganguly has 11 victories which is more than any other Indian captain.
Considering these statistics, Kohli is still early into his career as Test captain and with the kind of record so far, he should be backed to win more Test matches for India.
Virat Kohli leads from the front by setting an example
Virat Kohli has the reputation of scoring massive runs and his consistency is unreal. But to know that he has already scored more runs as a captain when compared to those who came before him is quite incredible. This list has big names like Sunil Gavaskar, MS Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar. Kohli has also scored six double centuries as Test captain.
By scoring heaps of runs himself, he not only motivates the other batsmen to do the same but also shows them the way it is done.
Ever since he took the role of the captain, Kohli has been an advocate of the highest level of fitness standards. He has led from the front where fitness is concerned and has set the bar high for his teammates.
Kohli has made sure that everybody stays fit and works on it regularly. His attitude towards fitness has rubbed off on others and India has become one of the best fielding sides in cricket.
Kohli’s aggressive style of captaincy and freedom to express
MS Dhoni was more subdued in his leadership style, often criticized by experts of letting the match drift by employing defensive strategies.
However, Virat Kohli is a synonym for aggression on the cricket field. Kohli as captain is always looking to attack the opponents whatever be the situation of the match. Hence, you can see more fielders in catching positions to increase the pressure on the batsmen.
The intention is to push for a victory, even if it results in a defeat at the end. He is the kind of captain who doesn’t settle for a draw.
A testament to this approach is the last Test match of the series against South Africa earlier this year. Kohli continued to keep an attacking field when the hosts were 124/1 with only 117 more runs required. As a result of which, India were able to dismiss South Africa and went on to clinch a historic victory.
Virat Kohli has also been an advocate of playing with 5 frontline bowlers which he feels is vital to dismiss the opposition twice in a Test match.
Kohli’s “horses for courses” approach has backfired sometimes, but the message to the players is clear that the intention is to perform and win, and those who fail to do so will have to make place for others.
Many players under Kohli have also said that such an aggressive style of approach and having the freedom to express themselves on the field have allowed them to bring the best out of themselves.
