Going by Captain Virat Kohli's choices it's obvious that he is trying to pick his team. He is not the one to go by statistics or reputation.
Be it picking Karn Sharma just because he's a wrist spinner and they tend to do well in Australia or be it choosing a Rohit Sharma over Cheteshwar Pujara for the no. 3 slot. Just because he thinks Rohit can bat more aggressively than Pujara once he settles down.
Or even bringing back the Turbanator, Harbhajan Singh just cause he wants to go ahead with 5 bowlers and only 6 batsmen, which means he would need a bowler who can bat a bit.
Virat Kohli is choosing players that he think will make his strategy work. Nothing wrong in that, as a captain that is the best thing to do, because we live in a country where if the team is performing well no one will give the captain any credit, but when the team starts failing, all blame falls on the captain.
The biggest debate going on these days is about picking Rohit Sharma and giving him more opportunities. This time, its about giving him chances in Tests. Everyone knows how he was persisted with for the longest time in ODIs by MS Dhoni. He might have delivered eventually but someone who played for more than 7 years, scoring a few hundreds here and there just isn't enough.
Same is being done now with Rohit in Tests. Other than the first two hundreds against a hapless West Indies at home in 2013, Rohit has not been able to impress anyone with his batting. For a Test batsman, he just isn't tight with his technique and tends to give away his wicket so very easily. This especially is a major flaw for a batsman coming in at no.3 when the team could be in trouble and needs a batsman with a solid technique and someone who can fight it out there. Rohit Sharma is the last batsman you want in such a situation. It might be an exaggeration, but, I'd rather send in Ishant Sharma who puts a price on his wicket in place of Rohit. A Sharma for a Sharma!
A simple advice to our captain, pick your favourites, but please make sure India doesn't suffer!
Be it picking Karn Sharma just because he's a wrist spinner and they tend to do well in Australia or be it choosing a Rohit Sharma over Cheteshwar Pujara for the no. 3 slot. Just because he thinks Rohit can bat more aggressively than Pujara once he settles down.
Or even bringing back the Turbanator, Harbhajan Singh just cause he wants to go ahead with 5 bowlers and only 6 batsmen, which means he would need a bowler who can bat a bit.
Virat Kohli is choosing players that he think will make his strategy work. Nothing wrong in that, as a captain that is the best thing to do, because we live in a country where if the team is performing well no one will give the captain any credit, but when the team starts failing, all blame falls on the captain.
The biggest debate going on these days is about picking Rohit Sharma and giving him more opportunities. This time, its about giving him chances in Tests. Everyone knows how he was persisted with for the longest time in ODIs by MS Dhoni. He might have delivered eventually but someone who played for more than 7 years, scoring a few hundreds here and there just isn't enough.
Same is being done now with Rohit in Tests. Other than the first two hundreds against a hapless West Indies at home in 2013, Rohit has not been able to impress anyone with his batting. For a Test batsman, he just isn't tight with his technique and tends to give away his wicket so very easily. This especially is a major flaw for a batsman coming in at no.3 when the team could be in trouble and needs a batsman with a solid technique and someone who can fight it out there. Rohit Sharma is the last batsman you want in such a situation. It might be an exaggeration, but, I'd rather send in Ishant Sharma who puts a price on his wicket in place of Rohit. A Sharma for a Sharma!
A simple advice to our captain, pick your favourites, but please make sure India doesn't suffer!
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