Being aggressive is ‘the thing’ in international sport today. In an era where avoiding defeat is no longer a measure of success, playing for safety is seen as a terrible idea which might drive away the fans, more so in the protracted format that is Test cricket.
In recent times, the Indian Test team has been roundly criticised as being defensive-minded. But on the eve of the Indian squad’s departure for Sri Lanka for the three-Test series, its skipper Virat Kohli gave enough hints of how his team will be anything but that.
Excerpts from the media interaction:
On his aggressive approach
I haven’t done badly. It’s an individual thing. I can’t expect a guy who is mellow to take on an opponent.
As a captain you need to figure out guys who can do that job, and those who will be in their own zone and will still do the job.
But what I personally do remains pretty consistent, and I don’t intend to change.
I believe that having an aggressive approach will always benefit the squad. It helps create momentum and excitement.
On playing three spinners
Yes, that is big possibility. The idea is to take 20 wickets. Your best bowlers will give you that chance.
The whole idea behind playing five bowlers is also for your top six to take more responsibility. It’s more challenging, but satisfying.
And we have people like R. Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Harbhajan Singh who are handy with the bat. Ashwin averages 40 in Tests. I don’t see any reason why he can’t be a better all-rounder.
You need a play a stronger bowling side to win Tests.
On Rohit Sharma at No. 3
We figured that he is an impact player. In ODIs he plays up. In Tests he was batting at six. So that was way off.
You play so much one-day cricket that, as a batsman, you would want to play at positions closer to each other in both formats. So we felt that, if he gets going, he could take a session away from the opposition.
That could be the difference between us winning the Test match and being on the back foot. He has done well in Australia in that position. We want to give him that game time. We want to give him ample opportunities.
Once he clicks he could be the catalyst. He doesn’t score slowly, and that gives the side more chance to bowl those extra 20, 30 overs to dismiss sides.
On the competition for opening slots
It’s is a spot that is being strongly contested for. When Shikhar [Dhawan] was not performing consistently, K.L. Rahul stepped in very well. Then Shikhar got runs. M. Vijay too.
We just need to see who is batting well at that stage. We still have a warm-up game. But a problem of plenty is never bad.
On India’s pace conundrum
This is an opportunity for us to make a few plans with the bowlers. What they want, how they plan and what they think is the best way to bowl a batsman out. If it doesn’t work, then we have plan ‘B’ where myself and the management come in.
We need to give the bowlers more responsibility and ownership. I am certain that they will be able to execute them along with our attacking spinners who will provide enough cushion.
On his first full series as skipper
We can plan certain things and prepare. To do that over a period of three Tests is very exciting.
We will have a lot of time to execute plans and then judge as to how we have done. It’s tough to do that in one-off Tests.
So it’s very exciting to play my first full series as captain.
On captaincy affecting batting and vice-versa
Not so far. As a batsman, when you don’t score, it becomes difficult to then focus on the field. But as a captain you don’t have a choice. Your mind is so preoccupied.
So that feeling hasn’t been there, and is unlikely to happen in the future.
I am a very active guy. I like to keep myself busy. I am liking it.
On lessons from Virender Sehwag’s 201 at Galle in 2008
Ajantha Mendis was a big revelation. Sehwag took him on and played him almost like a leg-spinner. I saw the whole innings.
Sometimes we make the mistake of being over cautious or too defensive; taking Test cricket too seriously and magnifying it to levels that’s not needed. That innings taught me that (how to attack).
On Rahul Dravid’s inputs
I wanted to practise batting on pitches that are much more difficult as far as spinners are concerned. Sweeping is one aspect I was looking to improve on.
He has been very helpful in the past five six days as he has been closely monitoring (things). I’m really glad I played [the unofficial India ‘A’ v Australia ‘A’ ‘Test’] here.
All in all, very good preparation.
