'I know only one way of playing and that's being aggressive' - Virat Kohli to Rahul Dravid after the 1st Test at Adelaide in December 2014.
In his first Test as captain against the mighty Aussies, Virat Kohli showed the world that his style of captaincy will be to go all-out attacking.
It's pace, pace and more pace. He picked Varun Aaron, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma in the team and handed the non-turning leg-spinner Karn Sharma a Test debut after a handful of first-class games.
Kohli has been known to openly back his fast bowlers no matter what the outcome. Because, unlike MS Dhoni, Kohli believes in action more than the 'process'.
His bowlers, namely Aaron and Yadav were wayward to say the least. Yadav managing an economy of 4.62 throughout the series and the Jharhand born Aaron giving away 5.64 runs per over.
The run-making apart, the two of them combined managed to pick up all of 16 wickets in 10 innings.
Mohammed Shami did manage to stand out with 15 wickets in the series, most by an Indian but that just isn't good enough.
So why the question of Virat Kohli being one-dimensional. Well, the first Test at Adelaide when Kohli lost the toss, the Australians did not come all-out blazing and yet managed to get their 50 by the 8th over.
Kohli was constantly changing the field, moving his fielders up and down. But, it was his fast bowlers who just did not do justice to the captain's field settings.
Australia did not even have to try hard to wrest the initiative in their favour, Aaron and Shami were doing that for them.
Surprisingly, it took Ishant Sharma to bring some sanity to the arena and get India it's first breakthrough.
Yes, it was Kohli's first day at the office and he has a long way to go.
So let's talk about his latest assignment - The Bangladesh Test.
He again decided to go for pace on a pitch and country that usually favours the spinners.
India again went with 3 pacers - Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron. Of the 10 wickets that fell in the first innings, 8 went to the spinners. A Test that was marred by rain, the pitch still managed to give enough turn and bounce.
What was surprising is that Kohli was on the attack and at one point the Bangladesh top-order scoring at a run-rate of over 4.5.
Everytime a team has attacked Indian bowlers, the captain has not shown a second gear. He doesn't seem to try and think of playing defensive for a little while. Try and play the waiting game, if I may.
The same applies to the team when batting. The move to pick Rohit Sharma over a Cheteshwar Pujara seems to validate this fact. Pick a more attacking batsman over one who likes to grind and take his time.
As much as this move might make sense in the sub-continent where runs are easy to come by and where the ball doesn't move too much for a batsman to have a real solid technique but this is definitely not the long term route.
Also, there will be times in the future when the team will need to save a match. Where you will need a batsman to score a 70 off 240 deliveries and where a 70 off 78 balls will not help.
Is there any batsman in the current line-up who can claim to do so? Barring a Murali Vijay?
Is there any bowler who can concentrate on line and length and keep teasing the batsman outside the corridor of uncertainty?
Is Kohli a one-dimensional cricketer who really only knows how to attack and can never take a step back?
I hope to get my answers in the near future as India play hosts to the Sri Lankans and the Proteas in the coming months.
A lot of these situations might be faced again, a lot of these questions might get answered soon!
In his first Test as captain against the mighty Aussies, Virat Kohli showed the world that his style of captaincy will be to go all-out attacking.
It's pace, pace and more pace. He picked Varun Aaron, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma in the team and handed the non-turning leg-spinner Karn Sharma a Test debut after a handful of first-class games.
Kohli has been known to openly back his fast bowlers no matter what the outcome. Because, unlike MS Dhoni, Kohli believes in action more than the 'process'.
His bowlers, namely Aaron and Yadav were wayward to say the least. Yadav managing an economy of 4.62 throughout the series and the Jharhand born Aaron giving away 5.64 runs per over.
The run-making apart, the two of them combined managed to pick up all of 16 wickets in 10 innings.
Mohammed Shami did manage to stand out with 15 wickets in the series, most by an Indian but that just isn't good enough.
So why the question of Virat Kohli being one-dimensional. Well, the first Test at Adelaide when Kohli lost the toss, the Australians did not come all-out blazing and yet managed to get their 50 by the 8th over.
Kohli was constantly changing the field, moving his fielders up and down. But, it was his fast bowlers who just did not do justice to the captain's field settings.
Australia did not even have to try hard to wrest the initiative in their favour, Aaron and Shami were doing that for them.
Surprisingly, it took Ishant Sharma to bring some sanity to the arena and get India it's first breakthrough.
Yes, it was Kohli's first day at the office and he has a long way to go.
So let's talk about his latest assignment - The Bangladesh Test.
He again decided to go for pace on a pitch and country that usually favours the spinners.
India again went with 3 pacers - Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron. Of the 10 wickets that fell in the first innings, 8 went to the spinners. A Test that was marred by rain, the pitch still managed to give enough turn and bounce.
What was surprising is that Kohli was on the attack and at one point the Bangladesh top-order scoring at a run-rate of over 4.5.
Everytime a team has attacked Indian bowlers, the captain has not shown a second gear. He doesn't seem to try and think of playing defensive for a little while. Try and play the waiting game, if I may.
The same applies to the team when batting. The move to pick Rohit Sharma over a Cheteshwar Pujara seems to validate this fact. Pick a more attacking batsman over one who likes to grind and take his time.
As much as this move might make sense in the sub-continent where runs are easy to come by and where the ball doesn't move too much for a batsman to have a real solid technique but this is definitely not the long term route.
Also, there will be times in the future when the team will need to save a match. Where you will need a batsman to score a 70 off 240 deliveries and where a 70 off 78 balls will not help.
Is there any batsman in the current line-up who can claim to do so? Barring a Murali Vijay?
Is there any bowler who can concentrate on line and length and keep teasing the batsman outside the corridor of uncertainty?
Is Kohli a one-dimensional cricketer who really only knows how to attack and can never take a step back?
I hope to get my answers in the near future as India play hosts to the Sri Lankans and the Proteas in the coming months.
A lot of these situations might be faced again, a lot of these questions might get answered soon!
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