The 5 bad moments of Virat Kohli the captain against England

Virat Kohli the captain was not up to the mark always against England in the recent Test series

Bengaluru, October 8: Former England captain Mike Brearely said the captaincy of Virat Kohli against England, and in particular at the Oval during the fifth Test, had left him a disappointed man.

Here's MyKhel looks back at 5 bad moments of Virat Kohli the captain during the series against England which lost 1-4.

1. Cheteshwar Pujara omitted for Ist Test

Of course, Pujara was not in any great form during the county cricket prior to the Test series. Perhaps, that led to his omission. But his absence felt when India faltered in the chase of 194 and lost by 31 runs. This is not to say that Pujara could have reversed the result but India would have been in with a better chance to win the Test.

2. No Ashwin against Sam Curran

R Ashwin began his England trip with wonderful dismissals of Alastair Cook. And India's premier spinner troubled the swarm of left-handers in England's top and middle-order. Yet, when Sam Curran, the debutante southpaw, was making a match-turning 63 that lifted England from 87/7 to 180, Ashwin hardly bowled.

3. Lord’s debacle

The condition was typical English and favoured the seam bowlers. But Kohli decided to hand the debut to chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav. Ishant Sharma (22), Mohammad Shami (23) and Hardik Pandya (17.1) shared the bulk of bowling duties. Ashwin and Kuldeep bowled just 26 overs between them for no wickets. A classic case of missing the obvious.

4. Persisting with Ashwin for the 4th Test

Ashwin had complained of a hip niggle during the third Test at Trent Bridge. India had the option of playing Ravindra Jadeja but included Ashwin in the 11 at Southampton. The ace offie was visibly below his best. He struggled to put hip in motion - an absolute necessity for his craft and failed to land the red cherry consistently on the rough in the second innings. Ashwin also watched Moeen Ali, the England off-spinner, walking away with nine wickets and man of the match award from that Test.

5. Not playing Karun Nair

Karun Nair was very much part of the dressing room when India thought of altering the batting line-up for the Oval Test. But India chose to hand debut to Hanuma Vihari, who joined the side ahead of the fourth Test. The ripples that decision made still has not subsided with BCCI mulling to pull up Karun and M Vijay, who was dropped after the second Test, for speaking against team selection.