Published: Sep 22, 2016, 07:17 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 22, 2016, 07:52 PM (IST)
It was ‘Indian cricket’s’ day. The occasion to play 500th Test, to become a part of a very exclusive group was a moment that every person associated with Indian cricket waited anxiously for; and after a brief wait, after some celebrations, handing out of trophies, mementos and what not, it arrived. The Indian cricket team headed into their historic 500th Test with a lot of promise; as always as a group replete with exemplary talent. But that was that. After mere 90 overs, this Indian cricket team reminded of the tale that almost all teams of the past did: promises are not that count; performances do.
If Virat Kohli and his team have to look back to this day at Kanpur, neither will they be able to draw confidence from it, nor will they recall any moment from the day’s play which could inspire them in time to come. You will be mistaken if you perceive that the Indian cricket team had just an ordinary day; to be honest, the way India went about their job was more than disappointing. It was as if the Indians did not turn up. To produce an ordinary batting show on the first day of the big home season that has 13 Tests is not a crime; there are ways to get back into contests after being bowled out for modest totals. But to fail miserably in setting the tone for a home season whose context is beyond numbers, is something that this Indian team, and their two star batsmen Kohli and Rohit are guilty of.
We will speak about Rohit Sharma and his trait of squandering opportunities at a later stage. Let us begin with Virat Kohli. Kohli had had a break from cricket since the conclusion of tours to Caribbean and USA. Unlike Rohit and Cheteshwar Pujara, who went into the Duleep Trophy in desperate search for runs, Kohli had the time to rest, contemplate, recuperate, and be ready. Unlike Rohit and Pujara, Kohli could actually walk away from cricket and its hustle and bustle. FULL CRICKET SCORES: India Vs New Zealand, 1st Test 2016, Day 1
But when the time arrived, over-aggression got the better of one of the finest young cricketing brains. All it took was a County-return left-handed fast-bowler to set him up with a few short balls. Kohli did not fell to a good ball; he caved in to ‘over-aggression’.
Kohli wants India to play aggressive cricket, which is why Rohit gets preference over any other batsman in India despite mountains of runs and promises. But they both caved in, just at the cost of being aggressive. To excel in T20 cricket, the most you may need is aggression. To win in ODI cricket, you need skill and aggression among many other qualities. But as far as Test cricket is concerned, controlled aggression is something that underlines your approach. FULL CRICKET UPDATES: India Vs New Zealand, 1st Test 2016, Day 1
Unfortunately for India, neither Kohli nor the batsman he backed had any control. Kohli’s pull off Neil Wagner, and Rohit’s horrible attempt to heave over mid-on off Mitchell Santner both had the same essence: uncontrolled aggression.
Honestly, to shun Kohli as someone who commits errors on a regular basis will be grossly unfair. He is not one of those. Just a few weeks ago, Kohli became the first Indian captain in Test cricket to score an overseas double-hundred. Kohli is not a slow learner; as mentioned above, he possesses one of the finest cricketing minds among the young cricketers. It had become a norm in Indian cricket to have captains who would just go with the flow, but Kohli has turned out to be a captain who thinks, plans, and wants his team to achieve something really special.
Kohli has big dreams for India; at 27 he may be having the world at his feet but he wants to do well in Test cricket. Among the innumerable selfies on his Instagram page, there is one in the Indian Test whites. Kohli is not old, but in that post, he can be found urging players younger to him to focus on their skills for the conventional format of the game.
So just how, a young man so meticulous falls to a short ball on the grandest of occasions like that of today? When Kohli walked out to bat, the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur gave a reception which reminded of what Sachin Tendulkar used to get not long ago. In just a few years, Kohli has added many of Tendulkar’s fans to his soaring list. There were all eyes on Kohli to make it big on Indian cricket’s historic day. The stage was set. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be.
And then, there is Rohit. Sandeep Patil, former Chairman of Selectors, highlighted in his last press meet recently that Rohit may have not got enough chances to prove his worth. Indian team management took Patil’s assessment in stride and chose Rohit ahead of Shikhar Dhawan. But at the end of the day, the story was not any different: yet another start, some more promises made, only to be squandered.
Enough of Rohit-bashing — not just for the sake of change — let us try and comprehend why a batsman with such magnitude of talent keeps squandering (if that is the word to be used). While Patil was absolutely right in his assessment that Rohit has not got enough opportunities on the trot, it must also be analysed what Rohit did on Day One against New Zealand.
Remember, Rohit is a monster in 50-overs cricket and there is a specific style of play due to which he is so successful. He is a slow starter, but once he settles down, Rohit keeps going for his strokes and hits boundaries and sixes, and goes on taking the risks. He rarely goes on backfoot. This kind of aggression has helped him do what he has done as an opener for India in ODI cricket. But when it comes to Test cricket, with a chance here and a chance there, combined with a massive burden of expectations, Rohit has stuttered. There may come a time when selectors decide otherwise, but till then, Rohit and everyone in the Indian cricket must keep patience.
Kohli and Rohit’s scores of 9 and 35 on Day One of ‘India Cricket’ season respectively sound an alarm to these two batsmen who have a massive role to play in time to come. The middle-order has started to look brittle, and the hosts will not want to give any kind of opening to even more dangerous opponents in England and Australia, who would watch every Indian move with great scrutiny.
(Devarchit Varma is senior writer with CricketCountry. He can be followed on Twitter @Devarchit)
