After losing the second ODI against Australia at Sydney (SCG). There have been too many questions over the captaincy of Virat Kohli from the former greats of the game. With the recent one Ashish Nehra joined the debate with bowling tactics used by Virat Kohli in the second ODI game. Ashish Nehra was also the part of IPL RCB franchise, don't understand the why Virat Kohli didn't put the trust on the bowler like Jasprit Bumrah (who is the only bowler in this current team looked dependable) in the early overs of the match.
In the conversation with Cricbuzz –
“In today’s (Sunday) game, Virat Kohli gave two overs to Mohammed Shami and then brought Navdeep Saini. He wanted Shami to bowl from the other end, that I understand, but then, why would he used Jasprit Bumrah for only two overs with the new ball?”
Ashish Nehra says, Virat Kohli looked different in their decisions as a captain this around time.
“I agree Virat Kohli is making frequent changes in bowling. He only had five bowling options. India used Mayank Agarwal and Hardik Pandya - it was a decision made on the ground. If things were going in India’s way, you would not have seen these two getting an over.
"Virat Kohli is being hasty in his decisions. In the previous game (first ODI) as well, after Kohli was dropped, it seemed like he is in a hurry. Kohli has chased 350 several times in his career, it is not a big deal for him. But it seemed like he was chasing 475, not 375
Ashish Nehra further added,
“I believe Kohli is an impulsive captain. He is making too many changes in his bowling. And this is an area that he needs to take care of."
Gautam Gambhir also raises the questions over decision of Virat Kohli earlier
Before Ashish Nehra, Gautam Gambhir also questioned the captaincy of Virat Kohli for not utilizing their frontline bowler like Jasprit Bumrah effectively while still in the T20 cricket mode. In a interaction with ESPN Cricinfo’s post-match show –
“I can’t understand the captaincy to be honest. We kept talking about how important it is to take wickets upfront if we have to stop this kind of batting line-up and then you make your premier bowler bowl two overs. Normally, in a One Day game probably there are three spells of 4-3-3 overs. Or probably the maximum is four overs."
Gautam Gambhir further added –
"But if you stop your premier fast bowler just by bowling two overs upfront with the new ball, I can’t understand that kind of captaincy. It is not T20 cricket.”
Another international cricket series has been wrapped up before the final game of the series among the two best teams in the world. Australia after winning the toss completely outplayed the tourists with the score 389 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in the 50 overs. Steve Smith smashed another century in back to back games to reveal that he is in the best form of his career.
In reply, India was restricted to the score of 338 runs in the 50 overs with two individual performances from Virat Kohli (89) and KL Rahul (76) and lost the series with the third game to go at Canberra.
