Kohli's views as captain of India

[express bowling]

In an interview published in The Telegraph, Kolkata...Kohli talks about his views as a captain

 

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160809/jsp/sports/story_101454.jsp#.V6mDkPl97IU

 

Here are some excerpts --

 

Calcutta: Even though India couldn't win the last Test in Kingston and could take only two West Indies wickets on the final day, they were the side that had the upper hand for most parts of the game.

That's what Virat Kohli stressed upon.

Speaking on the eve of the third Test at the Darren Sammy Stadium in St Lucia, the India captain said: "There can be several scenarios even in a draw.

"In the previous Test, the other team had to survive to eke out a draw. As for us, if we get even 10-15 per cent more assistance from the pitch, we know what we are capable of doing.

"So, we shouldn't doubt our abilities going forward. Bowlers have realised we have taken 36 wickets from four innings, which is no mean feat. We know which team was on top even though the result was a draw."

For a captain, it's important to be aware and have a feel of what's going around. "Captaincy is a lot about instincts and gut feel of the whole situation, the skills your bowler has and that of the batsmen.

"Being a batsman, I try to read the mindset of other batsmen as to who they are more comfortable facing or find difficult to face. When you want an aggressive spell, you bring the guy the batsman is least comfortable facing, while you want control from other end.

"It wont be executed every time you try. More often than not, if you read the whole situation of the game, you will be successful on most occasions. So, it's very important to be aware and have a feel of what's going around," Kohli said.

 

 

Asked about Murali Vijay's fitness and whether he can make a comeback in this coming Test, Kohli replied: "Cricket is a very uncertain game at times. Injuries are not in anyone's hands.

"So, we need to look at the balance of the side... We will have to take a call... Vijay is in a good headspace and he is practising well. He's back at nets and back to fielding as well.

"So, we will take a call and have to discuss whether we can have him back."

On the current bowling combination, the skipper said: "We will touch upon that. This is one area we need to discuss, especially on a wicket like this.

"We have to go by our best bowling options. This team is up for changes according to conditions and that will be up for consideration."

Momentum is crucial in any format of the game, Kohli emphasised. "Our last Test reflected one of the best examples of momentum, how massive a factor it is in cricket, especially Test cricket. It can only be attained through consistent cricket.

"But yes, the previous Test certainly was a good test for our bowlers, knowing that these situations will come up again in the future. So, we certainly have taken positives and learning from that final day and will apply them going forward."

 

 

 

 

 

This interview gives us some indication about his thought process regarding bowlers, bowling combinations as well as getting batsmen out.  looks like he is open to changing his bowlers.

 

We can discuss about Kohli's views on captaincy, in any future interview as well as this one, in this thread.

 

 

Edited August 9, 2016 by express bowling

[Lala]

He is following aggressive approach. Aggressiveness is the strength of attacking captains like Ponting, Jayawardene, McCullum,etc. Aggressive captains always look for wins regardless of ultimate results. They think victories are coming through only taking wickets, changing field, putting more slips,bringing more fielders inside ring, not much thinking about runs leaking,changing spells, etc. Mindset is very much positive. Unlike Dhoni, Kohli will be much much better captain in the future.Good for India. All the best 

[express bowling]

Kohli's  priority  as a captain is  taking all opposition wickets....and that is  his USP.  This is the message he always gives in any interview.

 

When there is a will there is a way and I am sure he will try to find more wicket taking bowlers for India as well as try to improve the ones he will ultimately keep in the team.

 

From other interviews, it seems that Shami and Ashwin are his favourite bowlers. He somehow likes Ishant next .  Mishra and Umesh may be the expendables according to the impression he has given.

Edited August 9, 2016 by express bowling

[Mosher]

2 hours ago, express bowling said:

Kohli's  priority  as a captain is  taking all opposition wickets....and that is  his USP.  This is the message he always gives in any interview.

 

When there is a will there is a way and I am sure he will try to find more wicket taking bowlers for India as well as try to improve the ones he will ultimately keep in the team.

 

From other interviews, it seems that Shami and Ashwin are his favourite bowlers. He somehow likes Ishant next .  Mishra and Umesh may be the expendables according to the impression he has given.

Yes Mishra and Umesh will be the scapegoats after one poor performance. While Ishant will keep playing. Ishant who is unlucky with the wickets gets really lucky with the captains. First Dhoni gave him a really long rope and now Kohli too likes him and he will not be dropped inspite of not performing well.

Edited August 9, 2016 by Mosher

[rkt.india]

22 minutes ago, Mosher said:

Yes Mishra and Umesh will be the scapegoats after one poor performance. While Ishant will keep playing. Ishant who is unlucky with the wickets gets really lucky with the captains. First Dhoni gave him a really long rope and now Kohli too likes him and he will not be dropped inspite of not performing well.

Ishant got early wickets in both the games. Umesh was really disappointing in 2nd game.

[Bleed-Blue]

16 minutes ago, rkt.india said:

Ishant got early wickets in both the games. Umesh was really disappointing in 2nd game.

Maybe because yadav was underbowled and Mishra was hugely overbowled.

[Mosher]

55 minutes ago, rkt.india said:

Ishant got early wickets in both the games. Umesh was really disappointing in 2nd game.

Ishant got only one wicket in the first match while Yadav got 5 wickets. Ishant bowled better than Yadav in the 2nd match but both didn't provide the breakthrough when it was needed the most. Not much to choose between both the bowler's performances. My point is Ishant has played 70 tests now with very little improvement in his performance. While other bowlers are dropped after one bad performance. How many more chances will he keep getting??? If someone deserves to be dropped, its Ishant.

[Mosher]

3 hours ago, Mosher said:

Yes Mishra and Umesh will be the scapegoats after one poor performance. While Ishant will keep playing. Ishant who is unlucky with the wickets gets really lucky with the captains. First Dhoni gave him a really long rope and now Kohli too likes him and he will not be dropped inspite of not performing well.

[Tibarn]

It appears Kohli's "aggressive" captaincy is picking the same bowlers as Dhoni, but setting an attacking field more of the time.  We will see how that goes.

[express bowling]

7 hours ago, express bowling said:

 

From other interviews, it seems that Shami and Ashwin are his favourite bowlers. He somehow likes Ishant next .  Mishra and Umesh may be the expendables according to the impression he has given.

This has turned out to be right.

[Trichromatic]

1 hour ago, Tibarn said:

It appears Kohli's "aggressive" captaincy is picking the same bowlers as Dhoni, but setting an attacking field more of the time.  We will see how that goes.

Aggressive captaincy is picking Rohit aggressive sharma and shikhar aggressive dhawan over slow pujara and vijay

[Silva]

overall the blueprint of this team isn't bad. Just Rohit, and dhawan need to prove their place, hopefully Vijay was dropped only due to injury concerns and that will take care of one of the problems. BK had to play ahead of Ishant or yadav in a line up that has only 5 specialist batsman. Maybe you can argue that if you have 9 players that can bat in the 11 a slowish player like Pujara isn't needed but I think he has been treated a bit unfairly. To be dropped after averaging 45 for a year batting at number 3 is a bit unfair. especially since all the batsman found it difficult to score in the home series vs South africa.

Edited August 9, 2016 by Silva

[velu]

we need a coach for team selection

 

 

 

[gattaca]

Kohli is going to be bad captain. We are doomed. His team selections are so bad. He seems to be desperate for a win. The bowlers were not doing well but he decided to drop our two best test batsman. This is going to be sachin tendulkar captaincy bad.

[beetle]

4 minutes ago, gattaca said:

This is going to be sachin tendulkar captaincy bad.

[express bowling]

6 minutes ago, gattaca said:

. The bowlers were not doing well but he decided to drop our two best test batsman.

The bowlers did very well for 3.5 innings out of 4. The pitch became exceptionally docile  during the 2nd half of the last innings.

Edited August 9, 2016 by express bowling

[BeautifulGame]

18 minutes ago, gattaca said:

Kohli is going to be bad captain. We are doomed. His team selections are so bad. He seems to be desperate for a win. The bowlers were not doing well but he decided to drop our two best test batsman. This is going to be sachin tendulkar captaincy bad.

That brings bad nightmares 

[gattaca]

23 minutes ago, express bowling said:

The bowlers did very well for 3.5 innings out of 4. The pitch became exceptionally docile  during the 2nd half of the last innings.

Look at ishant sharma he was bowling 5th stump. The captain has to step in such cases. All the pitches around the world are same now. Even in SA we had this problem. Australia is even worse. Looks like we are poor at reverse swing no one maintains the shine on the ball. Look at England they won a match out of nothing against pakistan who I consider superior batting team compared to bunch of nobodies in windies team. 

[maniac]

Just now, gattaca said:

Look at ishant sharma he was bowling 5th stump. The captain has to step in such cases. All the pitches around the world are same now. Even in SA we had this problem. Australia is even worse. Looks like we are poor at reverse swing no one maintains the shine on the ball. Look at England they won a match out of nothing against pakistan who I consider superior batting team compared to bunch of nobodies in windies team. 

4th test Ind vs SA and 3rd test Eng vs Pak where 2 of the best examples of reverse swing I have seen in recent times.

 

Ishant Sharma bowls with 4 other bowlers...bowling is a collective effort and tbf we have done well so far....why c an't we give credit to the WI for the 2nd test for a change and admit the pitch was a flat patta

[gattaca]

2 minutes ago, maniac said:

4th test Ind vs SA and 3rd test Eng vs Pak where 2 of the best examples of reverse swing I have seen in recent times.

 

Ishant Sharma bowls with 4 other bowlers...bowling is a collective effort and tbf we have done well so far....why c an't we give credit to the WI for the 2nd test for a change and admit the pitch was a flat patta

who is the leader of the attack ? He has played over 70 test matches. If England fail to take 20 wickets the blame goes to Anderson.