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Virat Kohli’s bold decision to drop Ajinkya Rahane puts onus on Rohit Sharma
By fielding Rohit Sharma ahead of Ajinkya Rahane, Jasprit Bumrah over Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav in the opening Test of the Freedom Series against South Africa cricket team, Indian cricket team skipper Virat Kohli showed once again that he is not influenced by statistics and history.
Can you drop a vice-captain who not only has the highest average away from home but is also a very good close-in fielder? Apparently, you can. How about ignoring the experience of a pacer who has toured South Africa twice before in favour of a complete greenhorn? That too. (SA vs IND, first Test, Day 1 highlights)
When Virat Kohli is in charge of the India team, expect bold decisions now and then. By fielding Rohit Sharma ahead of Ajinkya Rahane, Jasprit Bumrah over Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav, Kohli showed once again that he is not influenced by statistics and history. (SA vs IND, first Test, scorecard)
Three changes were made to the Test team that last played against Sri Lanka in New Delhi. Bumrah’s was by far the most surprising purely because of his inexperience at this level. By accounting for the most prized wicket of AB de Villiers, Bumrah showed the virtue of pitching the ball up. He mixed his deliveries judiciously but sometimes strayed down the leg due to his release of the ball from wide of the crease, automatically creating an angle. But considering this was his first Test, Bumrah’s first innings returns are acceptable.
Hardik Pandya’s inclusion was expected and he vindicated the confidence reposed in him by plucking the vital wicket of Faf du Plessis. The wiry all-rounder may have played just three Tests --- all against Sri Lanka --- before this but with nobody else fitting the bill of a medium-pacer-cum-batsman, Pandya was tipped to be the fifth bowler.
Kohli however had different ideas about his batting line-up. By picking Rohit over Rahane, Kohli chose immediate form over proven dependability. In the two Tests against a depleted Sri Lanka, Rohit had scores of 102*, 65 and 50*. Rahane played all three Tests but had scores of 4, 0, 2, 1, 10.
Even if it boils down to mere numbers, it would be difficult to explain the exclusion of a batsman whose second innings 52 in a partnership of 118 with Cheteshwar Pujara helped India level the home series against Australia in Bangalore before going on to win it in Dharamsala, where incidentally Rahane was captain after Kohli sustained an injury in the third Test in Ranchi.
Author of a superlative 147 in the first innings of the Melbourne Test, Rahane had followed it up with a gritty 48 that allowed India to draw that Test after two losses. Legendary is his 154-ball 103 at Lord’s, India’s only Test victory on the tour of England. Rohit has no such comparable achievement but his selection indicates the management’s willingness to give him a chance to prove himself on this tour.
