Cricket-Match-Special ... A forum for discussion

Virat was handed over captaincy for the first test versus Australia in Adelaide played in 2014. Now, for the fourth test of the same series, he has got this role permanently as Dhoni has retired form the test format and Virat will now get a long run at captaincy.

First test:
Australia won by 48 runs (Ravi says ignore scoreline, see how well they fought. Well done Virat and Team for fighting it. Virat has begun on a very impressive not and the management are happy)

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/engin ... 54737.html

His batting was top class scoring 115 and 141 in the first test. Captaincy clearly did not affect his batting. In fact, i would say his knock was one of his best even with the pressure that captaincy brings. Most were of the opinion that Dhoni did not handle bowlers well and hence their performance suffered. However, Aussies declared the first innings after scoring 517 runs for loss of 7 wickets. In the second innings Indian bowlers could only manage to pick 5 wickets. Just 12 wicket in two innings. Not really expected from a captain who was touted as the India's best captain for pace bowlers. It was just his first test and Chiku will learn captaincy gradually given more time and then we will see results overseas. He leads the bowlers very well and is a a good leader of the team. Also he is more aggressive than Dhoni so only better overseas records can happen. Even better than Saurav, i guess.

For the moment whatever happened in first test, let us just Ignore it like Ravi says ..... "I am not bothered about the scoreline because of the way they have played. I have seen teams in the past, where we have gone down, buckled under pressure and there has been no competition whatsoever. Here they have taken the attack to the opposition,".

and

"Everyone in Australia came to know that this Indian team has not just come out here to play cricket. They have come out here to compete and look to try and win. And that is the most important thing for me. The scoreline doesn't matter."

So we can take it that overseas results won't count for Virat as well like they did not warrant a timely change in Dhoni's captaincy. And that freedom from Director of cricket will help Virat and Team India for not playing any kind of performance oriented pressure. Bring on the fourth test and the superb fight.

Looking forward to post and discuss about the positives and negatives of Virat's captaincy in future matches.

Biggest test for Kohli would be to know how to Attack and Defend at the same time.
in the first test india would have won if India didn't concede run at such a quick rate.
Kohli didn't set the rights fields all the time in the first test but he a young captain and he will eventually learn and know what field to set at the right times.
He was good at bowling changes and changing plans when it didn't work.

Also for Virat kohli to have a long reign he need to learn from Dhoni on how to blank the media.
If he get angry or loses temper on what ever the media in India or around the world says then he won't last long in the job and it might affect his batting/ captaincy.
They be times in his career where people will question india performances, how much money he earns and probably if he love the game.
Kohli already had people in the media question this during the english summer, Be interesting though because unlike Dhoni Kohli would probably speak out on what he really thinks to the media.

kohli's captaincy could go two ways imo

the extra responsibility will help him focus that fire in the right direction as he will realise the expectations of the role

or

he could lose the plot completely and the extra pressure will just fan the flames of his short temper

It all really depends on how Kohli takes defeats, media/Fan pressure and having no control on his bowlers.

IF kohli can handle the first two he should do well but if he can't then he would probably lose it since the pressure will be too much for him.

I wonder what Kohli would do to help him remove all the pressure he would be under when he is captain of india.

Aidan11 wrote:http://zeenews.india.com/sports/cricket/india-vs-australia-2014/ravi-shastri-virat-kohli-proximity-behind-ms-dhonis-abrupt-test-retirement_1522996.html

the below the line comments on that article are good for a chuckle

To me one of his biggest challenge will be avoiding more internal rifts under his captaincy. There are rifts even under matured captains. Virat has to show maturity when dealing with other team mates, apart from controlling his on field issues in past.

The other challenge is how to win test series overseas with a team which has seen lesser skilled test batters and bowlers as seen under tenure of Dhoni. Saurav was relatively better overseas performance wise than Dhoni. Under Dhoni we even lost to England in India,and that to me was the worst failure of Dhoni in home series amongst all Indian captains i have seen:no Let us see how Virat does overseas and in India.

Overseas - 0 - 0- 1 so far.

Ishant is now Chikus deputy in tests (Vice Captain). Maybe he got that because he is the most senior most test player in this squad and virat can get advise from him.

We have all talked how Dhoni messed some team selections. The worst was a specialist batsmen short against SouthAfrica and we had to play Saha as a specialist batsman in that series. At Adelaide Virat included Karn Sharma, a inexperienced bowler in tough conditions. He flopped.

clubcricketeradi wrote:Ishant is now Chikus deputy in tests (Vice Captain). Maybe he got that because he is the most senior most test player in this squad and virat can get advise from him.

My first thought was Ishant? Difficult though to think who might else get the vc. Like you say he has some experience.

Dr Robert wrote:

clubcricketeradi wrote:Ishant is now Chikus deputy in tests (Vice Captain). Maybe he got that because he is the most senior most test player in this squad and virat can get advise from him.

My first thought was Ishant? Difficult though to think who might else get the vc. Like you say he has some experience.

Cricketing angle-
Not only most experienced by distance but, he has experience of playing in all non Asian countries by now, twice in most of them at least. Also he was the best bowler in last 3-4 test series iirc. So he clicked at right time and it helped him.

Conspiracy angle - Plays for the same team as Virat (Delhi)

Player - Tests
Ishant - 61
Virat - 32
Murali - 30
Chet - 27
Ashwin - 23
Ajinkya - 13
Shikhar - 13
Shami - 11
Umesh- 11
Bhuvi - 11

clubcricketeradi wrote: At Adelaide Virat included Karn Sharma, a inexperienced bowler in tough conditions. He flopped.

not sure that wold have been kohli's decision , certainly not made without agreement from fletcher and shastri anyway, not when he was just the stand-in captain for that game

It will be interesting to see how Kohli adapts to his first test as captain of India. Most comments seem to think his success will be linked to how he develops as an individual rather than as a player.

It feels like his bete noir is sledging (even though he seems to give plenty out!). So it might be he brings this out into the open in his captaincy. Indeed Dhoni at times hinted at a moral crusade. I'm all for Kohli exposing onfield behaviour, and think India could do the game a favour by drawing attention to this issue.

But mainly, he has to win games...

Will Virat have any input on DRS, or is that solely down the the BCCI?