Virat on the rise; chases Smith, Root Moves up to third in Test rankings, Jadeja fourth
Why the India Test skipper is better than the likes of Dhoni and Sourav
KOLKATA: There was a time when India captains were assessed by the number of Tests they managed to avoid defeat. That changed with the arrival of Sourav Ganguly in 2000.
And though MS Dhoni, India’s most successful skipper, began his rein with a bang, not losing a game till his 12th Test, Kohli is changing perceptions about the job by shaping the team in his own aggressive image.
Of the first 20 Tests Kohli has led, he has won 12, lost two and drawn six. That equals Dhoni’s record in his first 20 Tests as captain and is already better than India captains in the last three decades.
TOUGH TEST
Ganguly won 10 of his first 20 Tests as skipper while Rahul Dravid had won six. Their initiation to Test captaincy, however, was more difficult. By the time Ganguly had led India in 20 Tests, he had been to Zimbabwe and South Africa and was in the middle of a Caribbean tour. At the 20-Test mark, Ganguly had won two, lost three and drawn two outside the subcontinent.
Dravid was given tough assignments early as he had to lead in Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa. His figures for those tours read two wins, five losses and five draws.
Dhoni had a fairly easy initiation to his captaincy, playing only two Tests outside the subcontinent in his first 20 matches. India won and drew one each in New Zealand in 2009. Kohli’s record is far better. He lost his first Test as captain in Adelaide before drawing the next in Sydney. On his next full tour outside the subcontinent, in the Caribbean, India won the four-test series 2-0.
Kohli’s success is due to many factors— his own form, a young and fit team, a skilled reserve bench and R Ashwin’s rise as a dependable all-rounder.
But the one crucial factor that has given Kohli the edge as captain is his stress on playing five specialist bowlers. His debut as captain came on the 2014-15 Australia tour where Kohli was thrust into the job first due to Dhoni’s injury, and then his abrupt retirement.
With his next assignment, the one-off Test in Bangladesh, Kohli made it clear the 6+5 combination would be become the norm. Kohli stuck to the combination in seven out of eight games he has led outside India.
Already 2-0 up in the ongoing series against England after fielding five specialist bowlers, Kohli now has led India to eight Test wins at home. And with a few more Tests at home, Kohli is expected to have it easy.
The real test of his captaincy though is likely to come in 2018 when India tour South Africa, England and Australia. That should help define Kohli’s captaincy. But given how thorough he has been with his plans, there is no reason why Kohli can’t break the barriers, especially in South Africa and Australia where India have never won a series, and in England where India were thrashed on the last two tours. NEW DELHI: Upwardly mobile Virat Kohli is chasing a unique record – to become the number 1 cricketer in all three formats of International Cricket Council rankings. At the end of the third India versus England Test in Mohali on Tuesday, Kohli has climbed one spot to number 3 in the ICC Test batting rankings.
Virat Kohli is already the number 1 T20 batsman in the world and number 2 in ODIS behind AB de Villiers. Kohli is within 14 points of No. 2 Joe Root of England. Australia’s captain Steve Smith leads the Test batting rankings.
The 28-year-old Kohli scored 62 and six not out to move to 833 points. Starting the series in the 15th position, Kohli has risen at a fast pace scoring 405 runs in the three Tests against England.
In the Mohali Test, Virat Kohli became only the fourth Indian batsman to make 40 or more runs in each of his first five innings in a series. Rahul Dravid made five such scores against England in 2005-06. Navjot Sidhu did it in the Border-gavaskar Trophy series in 1997-98 and Sunil Gavaskar did it in England in 1979. Kohli has scores of 40, 49 not out, 167, 81 and 62 in the India vs England series so far.
England’s Jonny Bairstow has also reached a career-best ranking of ninth as he has shot up three places with knocks of 89 and 15 while Australia opener Usman Khawaja has moved up nine places to 19th rank after a match-winning knock of 145 that helped Australia win the day night final Test against South Africa in Adelaide by seven wick ets after losing the opening two Tests. For South Africa, Faf du Plessis’s innings of 118 not out and 12 have helped him move up eight positions to 23rd rank while opener Stephen Cook has moved up 30 places to a career-best 44th position after scoring 40 and 104 in Adelaide.
Ross Taylor has moved up four places to take the 18th slot after scores of 37 and 102 not out in New Zealand’s 138 runs victory over Pakistan in Hamilton. New Zealand’s 2-0 win in the two match series saw Pakistan slip ping from second to fourth posi tion in the team rankings.
SHAMI RISES TO 19TH AMONG BOWLERS
Australia pace bowler Josh Hazlewood has moved into the top five for the first time after taking six wickets in Adelaide He has moved up four places to take fifth position. Mohammad Shami of India is among three other pace rs who have also attained career-best rankings.
Mohammad Shami has moved up two places to take 19th posi tion, England’s Ben Stokes has advanced four places to take 21st place while South Africa’s Kyle Abbott has gained seven places to reach 29th slot.
Meanwhile, in the list of all rounders, Ravindra Jadeja has gained two slots to reach a career-best fourth slot after scor ing a crucial 90 in his only innings in Mohali. Jadeja’s spin partner Ravichandran Ashwin has consolidated his position at the top with 493 points, a tally not reached by anyone since retired South Africa player Jacques Kal lis in 2008.