Kohli’s Confusion On Bowling Choices Could Cost Us - Aakash Chopra

In his latest piece for The Quint, Aakash Chopra says India should be happy if the Test ends in a draw.

“Test cricket isn’t always about winning or losing, sometimes a draw is an equally respectable outcome,” writes Chopra.

There’s no ambiguity about the fact that Test matches are won by taking twenty wickets.

While some teams manage to do it with four bowlers, some need the cushion of an extra bowler to not just chip in with few wickets but also to bowl 10-12 overs a day. The biggest change that happened, or at least the one that was most talked about, after Kohli’s appointment as a Test captain, was the intent of playing five bowlers.

(Photo: PTI)

Confused Captain Kohli?

Kohli insisted that the time for ‘processes’ was over and his team was only focusing on ‘results’, and to achieve that goal it was imperative to play five bowlers. He started with playing five proper bowlers against Bangladesh and in the first Test match against Sri Lanka--a move that was hailed as ‘aggressive’ and a departure from Dhoni’s brand of captaincy. A new era of Indian cricket had begun, or so we thought.

Just that it took only one loss against Sri Lanka for the Indian team to change its tact. Instead of picking five proper bowlers, India chose the fifth bowler on his batting abilities. Stuart Binny was summoned from India for the second Test against Sri Lanka and in spite of not picking a single wicket in the first three Test matches of his career, he was picked as the fifth bowler. To be honest, it was a wise move, for Saha at 6 doesn’t give you enough confidence to play an extra bowler. But since the team think tank had shouted from the rooftop about its ‘new approach’, it felt like the team had gone one step forward and two steps backwards after a solitary loss.

(Photo: PTI)

5 Bowlers, But How Many Batsmen?

The Test series against South Africa will further test Kohli’s belief in his own theory of playing five bowlers. Let’s have a closer look at his batting resources, for playing 5 bowlers also means playing only 5 batsmen and if there’s a minor concern about the batting form of a couple of batsmen, it’s wise to revisit the strategy.

Murali Vijay missed the first and the third Test match of the tour to Sri Lanka because of an injury and even though he’s been the mainstay of Indian batting in Tests for the last 15 months, it’ll be foolish to ignore that he’s starting the series slightly undercooked. His partner in crime—Shikhar Dhawan has had a forgettable ODI series last month against the same team.

(Photo: PTI)

The Pujara Problem

If the lack of current form of the openers doesn’t raise the red flag, Pujara’s last few outings in first-class cricket should. Saurashtra has played quite a few two-day matches in the first half of the Ranji season and that meant that Pujara never got going. Even though he scored a century in the last Test he played, it’ll be prudent to remember that that match happened good two months ago, and two months is a lifetime in a cricketer’s career.

Aakash’s Take

My suggestion would be to err on the side of caution for the first Test match against Proteas and play only four bowlers. If it’s a rank-turner, play three spinners and if it’s a typical Mohali pitch (read: flat), go with 2-2 bowling option. Test cricket isn’t always about winning or losing, sometimes a draw is an equally respectable outcome, and I’d be happy if the score line reads 0-0 after Mohali.

The author is a former India cricketer and now currently balances his time between commentary assignments for the BCCI and writing books on his favourite sport. His third publication is out now -The Insider--Decoding the craft of cricket. You can contact him at @cricketaakash.