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Flashback 2018: Cape Town to Perth, a tale of lost opportunities for Virat Kohli and band

A flashback of year 2018 for Virat Kohli and his team which has toured South Africa, England and currently in Australia

Virat Kohi and his side went through a rough 2018 away from home

Bengaluru, December 19: Cape Town. Birmingham. Southampton. London. Perth. They are cities spanned in three continents over two hemispheres with a varied topography. But for the Indian cricket team, they carry a common thread - cities where they failed to grasp an overseas victory which was very much within their reach.

The team management consisting skipper Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri misread the pitch and conditions so grossly and picked combinations not suited for those venues. The team paid hefty price for those miscalculated moves and let's take a quick look at those matches.

1. Cape Town

1. Cape Town

Ajinkya Rahane is one of the Indian batsmen who is at home on away venues. But coming to the first Test against South Africa at Cape Town, Rahane was struggling on slow Indian pitches and the management benched him for Rohit Sharma, who made a hundred against Sri Lanka at Nagpur and two fifties at Kotla. India were chasing 208 against a South African attack sans an injured Dale Steyn. Rohit fell for 10 and 11 and the absence of Rahane felt and India lost by 72 runs. This is not to say that the presence of Rahane could have overturned the result but the management denied themselves that possibility.

2. Birmingham

2. Birmingham

Shikhar Dhawan gets picked again after getting dropped following the Cape Town Test against South Africa, perhaps based on his hundred against Afghanistan in Bengaluru. And India opted to play just one spinner in R Ashwin and used Hardik Pandya as all-rounder at Edgbaston. Pandya bowled 10 overs in the first innings conceding 46 runs and did not bowl in the second innings. Perhaps, Ravindra Jadeja could have been a better option as he could have provided the team more overs and more control as well. In the end, India lost the match by 31 runs chasing 194.

3. Lord's

3. Lord's

There was a green top, moist in the weather and India opted to field two spinners - Ashwin and handed debut to Kuldeep Yadav. Ashwin bowled 17 wicketless overs for 68 runs and Kuldeep conceded 44 runs in his 9 overs for no wicket. England had leg-spinner Adil Rashid in their line-up but never used him and India were blown away by four seamers, losing the Test by an innings and 159 runs. It, perhaps, the most obvious case of misreading the conditions of 2018.

4. Southampton

4. Southampton

The target was 245 and India caved in for 184 against offie Moeen Ali, who grabbed nine wickets in the match. This despite India taking a first innings lead. But the decision to field a less than 100 per cent Ashwin was surprising and he struggled to make an impact, especially in the second innings. Again Jadeja was overlooked where two spinners or a fully fit Saurashtra man would have been useful. Pandya's analysis of the match read - 8-0-51-1 and 9-0-34-0.

5. Perth

5. Perth

Ashwin was ruled out of the second Test against Australia because of an injury. With Pandya too not around, one would have expected the team to pick Jadeja in the all-rounder's slot. But India went for the extra batsman in Hanuma Vihari and trusted his part-time off-spin. You can argue that batting security is needed on a green top but Australia proved that three pacers and a frontline spinner can do just fine in Perth while winning the Test by 146 runs. Even while picking four fast bowlers, India went for the extra pace of Umesh Yadav omitting Bhuvneshwar Kumar who has more control over his trade and offers a better batting option as well. Umesh struggled to contain runs and to pluck wickets. Result: A massive defeat while chasing 287.

6. Does the team trust Jadeja?

6. Does the team trust Jadeja?

Jadeja has always been an ideal foil to Ashwin at home and the last time he played as the only spinner in the side was in 2014 against England at Manchester. Jadeja had underlined his utility at the Oval against England in 2018, taking 3-179 from 47 overs in the second innings and 4/79 from 30 overs in the first innings. He had also made an unbeaten 86 in that Test, his last for India as of now. But that effort seems to have made no effect on the management and he still walks around in bib. So why is he in the team? Substitute? Drinks carrier? Now, with Pandya rejoining the team in Australia, Jadeja might have to wait longer for a Test berth.

Line of thought: Erroneous team selection. Opportunities lost. The team that set out to conquer the world and to become the best travelling side is now stranded without ticket midway. Can they redeem themselves at Melbourne and Sydney?

Story first published: Wednesday, December 19, 2018, 13:15 [IST]
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