- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Virat Kohli is extremely fortunate still to be in the Indian Test team.
Despite an abominable display over five Tests against England recently, he will remarkably enter the first Test against Australia as India’s stand-in captain.
Kohli will cover for skipper MS Dhoni, who will be rested from the match starting in Brisbane on December 4 to help him recover from a thumb injury.
Yet he so easily could have been turfed from the side had the Indian selectors had the courage to make a stand after the disastrous tour of England.
During that debacle, Kohli made just 134 runs at an average of 13. It was the second-worst return in history by a specialist batsman in a five-Test series.
Aside from this shocking statistical return, Kohli’s behaviour during the series was awful. Once the momentum turned against his side midway through the series, Kohli put up the white flag.
He looked uninterested in the field and turned in efforts with the bat so feeble that it appeared as though he could not wait to go home.
It was the kind of performance which would have been punished by any strong selection panel.
But such is Kohli’s status as the golden boy of the shorter formats which earn the BCCI so many rupees, he was not only spared the punishment he deserved but rewarded with the Test captaincy.
Kohli’s talent is not in doubt. He is as naturally gifted as any batsman on the planet. Because he has been on the international scene for so long (he made his ODI debut more than six years ago) it is easy to overlook the fact he is only 26-years-old.
Many Test batsmen do not begin to fulfill their potential until they reach 27 or 28 years of age. We have seen evidence of this theory over the past 12 months as David Warner (28) and Angelo Mathews (27) have exploded to become among the top five batsmen in Test cricket.
Kohli is about to enter that pivotal juncture of his Test career. Having failed spectacularly against England he is now under immense pressure to prove against Australia that he could fight back from adversity.
His Test record of 1855 runs at 39 is serviceable for a batsman his age but does not do justice to the talent he possesses. Kohli has shown in the shorter formats that he has a rare level of ability.
To have 20 ODI centuries to your name by the age of 26 is an astounding effort. In eight ODIs on Australian soil he has been similarly effective, crushing 373 runs at 53.
In those matches, he showed no problems adapting to the swifter, bouncier pitches served up Down Under.
Like most of his colleagues, Kohli’s Test record overseas is paltry compared to his returns in India, averaging 33 versus 51 at home.
He has, however, shown the ability to prosper against quality pace in foreign conditions. During India’s two-Test tour of South Africa late last year he piled up 272 runs at 68.
Kohli also produced a reasonable performance the last time his side toured Australia in 2011-12. As India’s batting line-up was dismantled amid a 4-0 loss to the hosts, Kohli gave cause for optimism by top scoring for the tourists with 300 runs at 38.
Veterans VVS Laxman (average of 19), Rahul Dravid (24), Virender Sehwag (25) and Gautam Gambhir (23) all floundered in that series as Australia’s quicks ran amok.
This time around, it is Kohli who will be the elder statesman of the Indian top six. He has more Test experience than any of the other specialist batsmen chosen in India’s tour party and, as stand-in skipper, will shoulder even more responsibility at Brisbane.
Over these four Tests against Australia, we will get an idea of whether Kohli is ready to finally exploit his wonderful gifts or whether he remains susceptible to wilting under pressure.