Virat Kohli has brought a more aggressive edge to India’s Test team than his predecessor, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and in the aftermath of their crushing victory against England in Visakhapatnam this translated into a bullish critique of the tourists’ approach to the fourth innings.
By attempting to block their way through 4½ sessions and a minimum of 150 overs, Kohli felt Alastair Cook’s side “lacked intent”. While chasing a target of 405 on a wearing pitch may have been fanciful, however, the India captain was nevertheless surprised to see England drop anchor on their way to being bowled out for 158 in 97.3 overs.
Rewind to the first Test in Rajkot and it was Kohli successfully staving off defeat on the final day with an unbeaten, assertive 49. Here, despite showing frustration during the three hours that Cook and his opening partner, Haseeb Hameed, batted on the fourth evening, Kohli felt victory was effectively guaranteed by the pair going at just 1.5 runs an over.
“We thought they would come out with more intent,” Kohli said. “And to see the approach they had obviously gave us assurance that once we get a couple of wickets it will crumble pretty quickly because there wasn’t much intent from the batsmen.
“It is only if you have intent that you will be able to play the ball accordingly because you are looking to play with the bat. If you don’t have intent, and you are looking to control the ball, and if it does something, then you are in no position to control it and the edges fly off.
“If you are looking for runs, you defend well because your head is on the ball as well. It is a pretty basic thing to do, to be honest, and if you don’t have intent in the fourth innings, it is tough to play out four-and-a-half sessions.”
Cook, who made 54 before falling in the final over of the fourth day in what was a crushing blow to England’s already slim hopes of pulling off the rearguard action, made no excuses for this tactic, citing the 143.1 overs South Africa resisted in Delhi last year – the record fourth innings in India in terms of balls faced, albeit in a losing cause – as the template. “We set our stall out pretty clearly to take it as deep as possible [like South Africa],” the England captain said.
“Often you say ‘just play’ and see where that gets you, but we made a conscious effort to play that [South Africa] way. It’s not everyone’s natural way, but do that, lose four wickets and the lower order start digging in, [and maybe then] you feel you could have been more positive. We made a decision as a captain and a leadership group but we came up short.”
Should England have taken Kohli’s approach? It certainly fits the description of the cricket Trevor Bayliss wants overall and beyond Cook and Hameed, grinding it out fully was asking a lot of Joe Root, Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes. Whichever the preference, England were snookered anyway.
Kohli was also speaking as a batsman in glowing form, with his 167 runs in the first innings and the 81 in the second that transcended the conditions. He demonstrated that any hold England’s bowlers thought they had over the right-hander – he averaged only 20 from nine previous encounters before the series – is gone in an ominous sign for the third Test starting on Saturday.
The tactical side of his leadership, which in the two years since replacing Dhoni has returned 11 wins and two defeats from 19 Tests, remains in its infancy and did not go without criticism in Visakhapatnam. Nasser Hussain, the former England captain, described Kohli as still being “naive”.
His style is certainly a frenetic one and sits in contrast to the way Dhoni would at times let passages of play drift, with constant tinkering to fields that can look curious from the outside. His early defensiveness may even have been complicit in the England approach that so baffled him.
Sitting 1-0 up with three Tests to play in the series after a textbook home victory, his batting on a different plane and his bowlers already starting to worm their way into England minds, this brooding, intense captain is the one speaking from a position of strength right now.
