Wriddhiman Saha can do better in DRS, feels Aakash Chopra

Team India captain Virat Kohli and keeper Wriddhiman Saha play a game of football before the second Test against Australia at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore yesterday Pic PTIAfter Indias astounding success over the last 18 months and Australias woeful recent record in the subcontinent who would have thought that India would reach Bangalore trailing 01 But since that is indeed the case theres added spice in the contest For the first time since the Test match in Galle in 2015 Kohlis team finds itself in slightly unfamiliar territory for one more slip in the series would quash the hopes of regaining the BorderGavaskar trophyForget Pune Whatever could have gone wrong went wrong in Pune The pitch was too dry for anyones liking Smith called the toss correctly Starc played a blinder India capitulated in 38 minutes and then dropped too many catches While it looks like a disaster that called for radical changes its imperative not to look at it that way India are worlds best Test team and one loss cant be considered the end of the world Instead its important to view it as a timely wakeup call and a reminder to never let the guard down In media interactions since Pune Kohli amp Co have shown the same attitude and now the team selection should reflect the same If the pitch isnt as dry and flaky as Pune theres no reason to abandon the successful formula of fielding five bowlers Though theres indeed a compelling case to pick Kuldeep ahead of JayantOz were better prepared Even if we take into account the advantage of winning the toss its only fair to acknowledge that Australians adapted to challenging conditions better than Indians They batted with more application twice their bowlers exploited the conditions better than the Indian spinners and they caught better too Its evident that their preparation in Dubai leading up to this tour was impeccable On the contrary the Indian team walked into this series on the heels of a highscoring limitedovers tourney with England If the pitch at Pune was also a typical Indian one there wouldnt have been any issues to adapt to the longer format but the nature of the pitch called upon a skillset that Indians had practiced for a while The long gap between the two Tests will bring the two sides closer for India would be better prepared nowThe DRS jinxOne area that gets little attention but plays an important role is the utilisation of the reviews Kohli has used the review 39 times ever since India has started using the technology to review onfield umpires decisions but he got it right only 30 times Like most new things it takes time to get used to the idea of challenging the decision and devising a team methodology During fielding Saha becomes the most important person to guide Kohli and while his glovework has been admirable his contribution in assisting his skipper is negligible Its not about seniority or having a powerful voice in a teams ecosystem but about being at the right place and nobody is in a better position than Saha He must have a definitive voice in guiding the skipperAlso while batting its imperative to know when to burn a review In the second innings of the first Test both openers consumed the reviews in the first few overs Just because they get to use it first doesnt mean that they dont think it through The fundamentals of the prevailing system is that unless you are 100 per cent sure do not refer a legbefore decision For nine times out of 10 it will be the umpires callIn spite of the hiding in the first Test India start as favourites to win the second Test to square the series Reaching the summit is tough but staying there is tougher and India have the next five days to show the world why they are at the top of the ICCs Test rankings