India vs Australia: Virat Kohli was too focused on Tim Paine not on India winning - Opinion

While Kohli was far and away the best batsman in a Test where the bowlers prevailed, Tim Paine had by far the better of the captaincy duel.

Holding patterns are for airline pilots not cricket captains. This is especially the case on pitches that give bowlers an advantage. So by bowling Hanuma Vihari, delivering innocuous off-spinners wide of off-stump just before lunch on the fourth day, Virat Kohli handed Australia a significant advantage.

India's Virat Kohli removes his helmet as he walks off after being dismissed during play in the second cricket test between Australia and India in Perth, Australia, Monday, Dec. 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Trevor Collens) (AP)

The fact that India -- now bowling to take wickets again -- claimed 5/17 in the first nine overs after lunch just confirmed the wasteful nature of this defensive tactic. At a time when India needed to restrict the second innings target to a minimum because of the difficult nature of the Perth pitch, this was not the time to go on the defensive.

While Kohli was far and away the best batsman in a Test where the bowlers prevailed, Tim Paine had by far the better of the captaincy duel. From the moment Kohli was dismissed in the first innings he seemed distracted by the decision and focused too much attention on Paine and not enough on the job at hand -- winning the game.

The decision that appeared to derail Kohli’s thinking was yet another disputed catch sent for review to the third umpire. How can the ICC -- knowing the eminently disputable nature of the evidence -- keep sending catches to be reviewed?

CATCHING CONTROVERSY

These decisions should be given by the on-field umpires who are best placed to get the right answer. For more than a hundred years this is the way low catches were adjudicated and very few decisions caused animosity.

If the umpire knows what to look for in deciding low catches -- there are tell-tale signs that any decent slip fielder can pass on -- then it’s far better the decision is made on the field. As it is now it’s a guessing game off the field because of the for-shortening effect of the cameras and sending these decisions to be reviewed only causes more controversy.

In the end though it wasn’t so much a captaincy failure as the inability of the rest of the batting line-up to provide enough support for Kohli. At the moment India have two black holes -- the top of the batting order and the last four wickets. This is a big handicap to overcome against a strong bowling attack.

SUICIDAL PANT

Adding to India’s run scoring woes is Rishabh Pant’s failure to grasp the measure of his batting talent. If he’s going to continue trying to hit Nathan Lyon into the next state he won’t make the contributions he should with the bat and this just deepens the lower order black hole.

Somewhere between Pant’s suicidal approach to dealing with Lyon and the passive resistance of the bulk of the batsmen, is a sensible method to assert authority over the successful off-spinner. If India don’t find that middle ground they are in danger of squandering yet another overseas series.

The other point of conjecture regarding the Indian camp was the non-selection of a spinner. I doubt Ravindra Jadeja would have made much difference to the bowling effort as he is more of a skidder and therefore he wouldn’t have been able to take advantage of the extreme bounce. He may have added some runs but you can’t pick bowlers for the number of runs they make.

Having fought so hard to gain the advantage in Adelaide, India have now surrendered the upper-hand (not without a fight) and they’ll have to work extremely hard to regain superiority.

As happened in both South Africa and England, India’s main point of concern is batting support for Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara.

(The writer is a former Australian Test captain and is writing exclusively for HT. Views personal)