Kohli's men may not lack the drive to triumph overseas, but have they made it their obsession laced with a special kind of desire?
India captain Virat Kohli, whose team is under pressure to stop the rampaging England team from claiming their third Pataudi Trophy in a row. Pic/Getty Images
Consecutive losses for India first up in England are not unprecedented and Virat Kohli's men are not the first Indian outfit to lose the opening two Tests in the United Kingdom. It has happened as far back as 1952 when India was led by Vijay Hazare; as recent as 2011 when Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side ultimately succumbed to a 0-4 whitewash. DK Gaekwad's 1959 team, followed by MAK Pataudi's men in 1967 and Ajit Wadekar's team in 1974 lost all Tests, too.
Despondency, dismay and even disgrace make up the common thread in these teams and pardon the pun, it's the shame old story yet again. Cricket fans expected a better show from the current side. That the World No. 1 Test team could only muster 237 runs across two innings at Lord's was hard to swallow. More considerate supporters, of course, would point to the fact that England batted in better conditions and Joe Root winning the toss had to be an advantage.
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It's fair to say that Kohli didn't expect such a demolition especially after the first Test went England's way through a not-too-large margin at Birmingham. While his batting has looked imperious and he does possess the broadest bat in the game, his captaincy has not been as flawless. Nasser Hussain, who has grown in popularity as a cricket pundit, paid Kohli a fine tribute at Birmingham when he said that the India captain deserved to be on the winning side for the way he batted with the tailenders. But what got highlighted, and for good reason, was Hussain slamming Kohli for not bowling Ravichandran Ashwin when left-hander Sam Curran was frustrating the Indians with his punitive blade (63 off 65 balls) in England's second innings.
Kohli is known for not sticking to the same combination for every Test under his watch. Although he can't be wrong all the time, his recent selections have ended up proving costly. In South Africa, he dropped a seasoned overseas performer like Ajinkya Rahane for two Tests (both of which India lost) and now, he decided that his best playing XI for the opening Test at Birmingham didn't have to include the redoubtable Cheteshwar Pujara.
Pujara was not armed with a massive amount of county runs for Yorkshire in the build-up to the first Test, but he had the familiarity factor going for him. Dropping Pujara was a ruthless decision, a big shot by Kohli played too early in the piece as it were. It is here where the captain probably missed his first trick of the Test series.
It will take a miracle for India to end the five-Test contest with a series win, but a Test-by-Test revival cannot be impossible. It happened in 1974-75 against Clive Lloyd's West Indies and in the Australian summer of 1977-78 when Bishan Singh Bedi's Indians stormed back to win in Melbourne and Sydney after losing in Brisbane and Perth.
However, the final Tests of both these series — in Mumbai and Adelaide respectively — did not go India's way. And those losses still hurt the members of those teams. The current team may not lack the drive to win overseas, but have they made it an obsession laced with a special kind of desire? They have been terrific at home and while it is also important to win on home soil, Kohli's team will be judged on their ability to beat the best on unfamiliar territory. No disrespect to MS Dhoni, but Kohli must strive to enjoy better Test success overseas than his predecessor whose captaincy sheet was smudged with big series defeats to England (in 2011, 2014) and Australia (2011-12).
At a time when India continue to buckle under foreign skies, I'm forced to recall the Sourav Ganguly-John Wright era, which did wonders for India's overseas success pursuits. This is worth emulating. Under Ganguly, India did not lose a series in England (2002) and Australia (2003-04). They kept evolving. The loss in the first Test at Lord's 2000 didn't result in another defeat. In fact, they crushed England by an innings and 46 runs at Leeds where conditions were testing.
Kohli & Co should watch the footage of that Test. They'll also do well to observe how their batting coach Sanjay Bangar battled for 296 minutes for his 68 and put on 170 with Rahul Dravid for the second wicket in seaming Headingley conditions. Talking of partnerships, the best one for India in the current series was 57 for the tenth wicket between Kohli and Umesh Yadav at Edgbaston. A pounding in England won't do any good for the confidence of this team that will tour Australia later in the year. Yes, the men from Down Under will not have Steven Smith and David Warner, but the manner in which the Indian batsmen have come a cropper in England against quality swing bowling, who is to say they won't find the Australian quick bowlers too hot to handle. Yes, with three Tests to go, picture abhi baaki hai, but will the heroes show up?
mid-day's group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance. He tweets @ClaytonMurzello Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com
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