Kohli’s message to Pujara & Co: Being cautious won't help us

[Ankit_sharma03]

Indian captain Virat Kohli has exhorted his batsmen to shun ultra-defensive approach heading into the must-win second Test against New Zealand, saying it “never pays off” on overseas tours.

India was thrashed by 10 wickets in the opening Test at the Basin Reverse, failing to go past 200 in both its innings on seam-friendly conditions.

 

“I think the language we use as a batting unit, that has to be correct. I don’t think being cautious or wary will help because you might stop playing your shots,” Kohli said after the loss.

In the second innings, the technically sound Cheteshwar Pujara consumed 81 balls for his 11 runs and Hanuma Vihari made 15 off 79, as the batting unit failed to generate any momentum.

Pujara, at one point, went 28 balls without a run, forcing Mayank Agarwal into playing loose shots and perish.

Not running the singles and waiting for a good ball that has “your wicket” written all over it is unacceptable to the India skipper.

“You will start doubting that if even singles are not coming in those conditions, what will you do? You are just waiting for when that good ball will come and you will be dismissed.

“(If) you have that acceptance that it’s ok if you are out to a good ball, at least I don’t think that way,” said Kohli, making his stand clear on what he thought about the approach of some players.

The skipper, who is known to take the attack back to the opposition camp, wants some of his batsmen to follow his leads.

“If I see a situation, if it is a green wicket, then I try to play counter-attacking cricket so that I can take the team forward.

“If you don’t succeed, then you have to accept that your thinking was correct, you tried but if it didn’t come off, fair enough. There is no harm in accepting that.

“But I don’t think a cautious approach ever pays off, especially away from home,” the skipper was clear in his thought process.

He again stressed on the mental aspect of Test cricket where clarity of mind, at times, becomes more important than the technical nuances of batting.

“If we start thinking too much about the conditions, then you won’t be able to focus on your batting. When you are not playing in your (home) conditions, the game becomes more mental.

“We can sometimes get into too many technical discussions. But if your mind is clear, then any condition looks easy.

“Then it doesn’t seem as if a lot is happening with the ball or that the bowling attack is tough. We will follow the same positive frame of mind we have been in.

“We were not able to execute in this game but when we do so, we know what we can achieve,” the confident skipper said ahead of the Christchurch challenge.

 

Link -https://sportstar.thehindu.com/cricket/virat-kohli-india-vs-new-zealand-second-test-cheteshwar-pujara-mayank-agarwal-india-batting-woes-christchurch/article30912343.ece

 

[Ankit_sharma03]

Agree with him,  cautious shudnt mean that even poor balls are not scored off. In Conditions like Sa, ENG, NZ when ball jaggs around some ball will have ur number so better score when there is an opp

 

Another example is look at dravid s/r in NZ tour 2002 on those nightmare pitches was 38-39 but pujara in this test had s/r of 26 n 13 . 

 

Its just not pujara kohli , vihari, rahane all had same issue this test. At one point i was shocked to see teams total around 160 in around 66 overs which means a new ball was due in 14 overs. So by the time new ball wud have come we wudnt have done much

[zen]

As the best batsman in the side, I expect Kohli to stand up. I would rather see a batsman leave a ball in test than chase a wide one to get out. It is not like they are playing for RRR

 

Shaw (who actually attacked), Vihari, etc are fringe/new players. And they are not the same players in SENA conditions. I would not be too critical of them. In place of Vihari, they could have played an extra bowler (esp. in hindsight) 

 

Kohli-Pujara-Rahane (as Rahane is considered a SENA expert. You can’t have a key batsman who only avgs 29 in the last 11 tests in SENA at #5) have to step it up in SENA (Pujara did it in Aus). If Rahane is not performing, may be bring Gill in or even consider Rahane as an opener

 

Test cricket is about building p’ship. Not everyone has to play in a certain way. At times roles are different (for e.g. a Dravid would look to hold an end up and play through the inning). It also depends upon where you bat. 

 

With Kohli  confusing the team w/o understanding the strength and role of his players, I hope that they do not falter at Christchurch 

Edited February 25, 2020 by zen

[zen]

May be consider this Kohli:

 

Agarwal

Rahane (make him step up his game in SENA. Rather than pushing youngster to do the hard work.)

Pujara

Kohli

Gill/Shaw

Pant

Bowlers 

 

 

[Gollum]

What Kohli did at Basin Reserve, that too won't help us. Mayank found the perfect balance, pity he was robbed by inept/biased umpires....looked set for a ton.  

[Autonomous]

Dot balls won't be of any use here.

 

Put pressure on opposition and score max in first innings.

[New guy]

1 hour ago, Gollum said:

What Kohli did at Basin Reserve, that too won't help us. Mayank found the perfect balance, pity he was robbed by inept/biased umpires....looked set for a ton.  

Mayank was walking without reviewing. How long will you whine about that decision?

[Param Mastishk Pheeka]

Why was this message not made clear *during* the match before the guys went out to bat?  Isn't this something that the team discusses prior?  Or do they just wake up in the morning and say - Chal, sab apna apna natural game khelo?  Baffling.

 

Added in edit:  But *if* this was the team strategy and was made clear to CAP and GHV, and they still did their own thing, sit their a $ $ es and play someone who will comply with team strategy.   

Edited February 25, 2020 by Param Mastishk Pheeka

[Gollum]

23 minutes ago, New guy said:

Mayank was walking without reviewing. How long will you whine about that decision?

Maybe he was being timid, or confused, evidence suggests there was no edge. Maybe you are a world renowned professor of psychology and hence know for sure what he was feeling, lesser mortals like me go by evidence. 

[Cricwala]

2 hours ago, zen said:

With Kohli  confusing the team w/o understanding the strength and role of his players, I hope that they do not falter at Christchurch 

THIS. It is Kohli's 'bat with intent' obsession all over again.

 

Someone tell nutcase Kohli that a cautious/bloody minded approach of batting employed by Pujara is what won u the series in Australia. Each player has their own rhythm, let them be. Any finer points or tactics u have to discuss about specific conditions, do it in team meetings, ask batsmen to rotate the strike more when opposition bowling is on top, or to ensure loose balls don't go unpunished etc. Do not ask all batsmen to wholesale change their style to mimic yours, u egomaniac!!

 

Did aggressive style of Dhawan, Rohit, Pandya work in SENA?? Wasn't Shaw going for shots, did Sehwag style work in NZ?

 

So many of our great  SENA wins are built on back of grinding batting up front which allows middle order stroke players to pile up big scores - guys like Bangar, chopra as openers, dravid at 3, Pujara in aus in 2018, Pujara & vijay in jo'burg 2018. What was Gavaskar's playing style??

 

This guy has the memory of a chicken. He's basically repeating his senseless 'bat with intent' mantra which saw Dhawan, Rohit play instead of proven test performers like KL, Rahane in SA...and which messed up  vijay, Pujara (he ran himself out twice in 2nd test vs SA and then again Lords, all to satisfy the captain's "intent" mantra).

 

 WTF is batting coach Vikram Rathore doing if Kohli's just going to enforce his batting style on everyone?

 

Give Kohli a line up of Dhawan, Shaw, Shreyas, Kohli, Rohit, Pandya - let's see how many matches he wins in seaming conditions. 

 

In T20s where pre-meditated aggression is warranted, the fool asks for pant to be more 'measured', but in SENA he wants batsmen to play positive and not bother with technique.

 

There's nothing worse than foolishness and arrogance combined.

 

 

 

[zen]

Kohli should know that teams like Aus will happily give away 100 runs esp. in the first session to pick up 3-4 wkts

[zen]

First try to take the test to day 5 .... then worry about other stuff 

[vaul]

 

2 hours ago, Gollum said:

What Kohli did at Basin Reserve, that too won't help us. Mayank found the perfect balance, pity he was robbed by inept/biased umpires....looked set for a ton.  

Bat was in air at time of spike,therefore,decision was correct.

Edited February 25, 2020 by vaul

[ShoonyaSifar]

Someone remind this fool that the series win he prides himself for, vs Aus in Aus last year, was majorly achieved by Pujara’s batting  using EXACTLY the same approach. 
 

1st Test at Adelaide, 1st innings, Pujara was 19*(90), went onto score 123. 2nd innings, scored 71(203), Kohli himself made 34(104)

 

2nd Test, Pujara scored 106(319)

 

Like it or not, that’s his game. By attacking him publicly, this idiot has again exposed his mental deficiencies. 

[Vickydev]

Shouldn't have said this out in the open. Puts unnecessary pressure on the meek Pujara, might force him to try something that's not natural to him.

Imagine him try taking on Wagner to showcase his intent   

Edited February 25, 2020 by Vickydev

[sarcastic]

4 hours ago, Gollum said:

What Kohli did at Basin Reserve, that too won't help us. Mayank found the perfect balance, pity he was robbed by inept/biased umpires....looked set for a ton.  

Irrespective of what you believe the decision to be, such bad decisions do happen once in a while. It was not a howler like clear bat and pad given out. Mayank should have not fished the ball going down the leg side. He did it to get some runs and he could not get a good touch. So, even if his bat missed the ball by a bit (like you perceive and probably true too), he was unlucky enough to be given out and he had done something non-ideal for that bad luck to take over.

If he left it to go down the leg, he could not have been out. If he played it well to get a leg side boundary, he would not have been out too. He played and missed and may(or may not) have touched the ball and the keeper took the catch. That does not mean robbed by inept/biased umpires etc. It just means he was a bit unlucky and every batsman goes through such things one time or the other. 

[Suhaan]

Kohli's intent will go missing when he arrives at the crease next test,he preaches others while doing zilch when the going is tough

[rtmohanlal]

as you sow , thou shall you reap....  For your own selfish motives you never allowed  other talented  batsmen  to prosper in multi formats.. On the other hand , kept on playing one  dimensional players like Pujara , Rahane ,Rohit,Dhawan,  Rahul etc etc so that your reputation remains intact. Now pay the price..

Edited February 25, 2020 by rtmohanlal

[vvvslaxman]

So if Kohli wants to communicate something to Pujara he goes to the press lol He could very well say these things in team meetings. I know counter attack is a good option in tougher conditions. Kapil Devi, Sachin, Azharuddin have done it many times.

[Jimmy Cliff]

When he scored runs in Southampton as well as in Australia, Pujara seemed to have found a release shot in the upper cut/slash that got him a boundary every now and then. Not sure why he has abandoned that shot as I saw him let go of quite a few short balls where he had room to play that. Wonder if that has to do with the spongy bounce .