Tag: Cape Town Test

  • There’s a lesson in Elgar’s phrases for Kohli’s successor

    Whoever takes over from Virat Kohli as Test captain ought to take heed to the post-match feedback of South Africa captain Dean Elgar at Newlands. Elgar’s reply to a query on the Decision Review System (DRS) controversy which prompted the visiting group, led by skipper Kohli, to lose its cool and use the stump mic to vent their frustration on the host broadcaster must be edited by the video analyst and circulated by Kohli’s successor on his gamers’ Whatsapp group.
    Elgar is the one who bought the reprieve on Day Three in Cape Town. So his viewpoint from the center is just not the identical as that of ‘people on the outside’, that group of armchair critics Kohli likes to bash on the drop of a hat.
    This is what Elgar stated in a nutshell.
    “It was maybe a team under a bit of pressure and things weren’t going their way, which they aren’t quite used to of late… It played nicely into our hands that for a period of time, they forgot about the game and they were channeling a bit more of the emotional side of what Test cricket has to offer. I am extremely happy it happened that way,” the Proteas opener stated.
    He was inadvertently rubbing salt into the injuries of the Indian group which blew an opportunity to win its first-ever collection in South Africa.
    In Elgar’s phrases was additionally a lesson for the following Test skipper of India: Having a relaxed head on one’s shoulders can also be a useful management trait.
    The ball-tracking picture confirmed the supply going over the stumps, although it hit Elgar in entrance of center stump and under the knee. Then all hell broke free. One amongst Ravichandran Ashwin, the bowler who was denied, captain Kohli and vice-captain KL Rahul may have calmed the troops.

    Instead what we bought to see on tv have been champion cricketers behaving like a group of ill-mannered college boys. An worldwide captain, bending down and speaking into the stump mic, to ensure his criticism towards a South African broadcaster is heard by everybody, was social media gold.
    Ashwin, nonetheless fuming, stated ‘you should find better ways to win, Supersport.’
    Rahul maybe took the cake when he chimed in along with his ‘it’s the entire nation towards 11 guys’ remark. He maybe was making an attempt to attract an analogy with the 300 Spartans who went to warfare towards the Persian military. Or another legendary battle. But even ardent Rahul followers will discover it excessive.
    If Rahul will get the highest job, he ought to take recommendations on the way to train restraint over his feelings from his namesake within the dressing room, the newly-appointed head coach.
    Ask an skilled sports activities producer with information of how the DRS works and they’re going to let you know that Elgar may have survived due to a human error by the individual on the backend. There is just not sufficient time for deliberate manipulation by a broadcaster.
    If Kohli and his males hadn’t purchased into the conspiracy theories floating of their heads, they’d have regarded on the scoreboard and realised that there was a recreation and a collection nonetheless to be received.

    South Africa have been comfy at 60 for 1 at that time, however the inexperienced batting order needed to make one other 152 runs to win the collection. Instead of merely nodding their heads in disbelief and saying ‘let’s get on with it for now’. one in every of India’s best Test groups collectively stated ‘let’s make a scene proper now’. A group which pulled off one of many best upsets in Australia a yr in the past was letting a know-how, which everybody is aware of is just not 100% correct, get to them.
    Nothing extra to provide
    In hindsight (after Kohli posted his resignation be aware on social media), the Indian captain’s flare-up a couple of DRS name was coming from a spot of being emotionally drained. With the do-or-die Test match beginning to slip away, it was additionally his final throw of the cube. When Kohli was at his finest, being in battle spurred him and, as a rule, the group rallied behind him to trend memorable wins abroad and at dwelling.
    “If we had got charged up and picked up three wickets there, that would have probably been the moment that changed the game,” Kohli stated after the collection loss. This time it had the other impact – reflective of the captain who had nothing extra to provide after seven years on the helm.
    Like Elgar stated, publish the ruckus within the center, his group bought some respiratory area.
    In the six overs following the DRS controversy, India conceded 10, 8 and 10 in three of them. This is to not say that the sport and the collection was misplaced throughout a small passage of play. Elgar fell within the final over of the day. On Day 4, the bowlers saved issues tight and made life troublesome for South Africa during times of play, even for the sensible Keegan Petersen and gifted Rassie van der Dussen.

    Not having sufficient runs to defend let the bowlers and the group down, and never for the primary time.
    The blame for the collection loss should be laid on the ft of the Indian batters. For too lengthy, the bowling assault has been carrying the misfiring center order, which incorporates Kohli.
    327 & 174, 202 & 266, 223 & 198 will not be totals that may assist one conquer a last frontier.
    The selectors might quickly take a name on some long-serving match-winners like Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, who’re going by a fallow interval. Those ready within the wings might or might not seize their alternatives. Filling large sneakers received’t be straightforward. Kohli’s weak spot exterior the off-stump when the ball is shifting stays and his century-less run continues. The collection loss in South Africa has highlighted some dwelling truths. The new captain and coach Dravid could have so much on their thoughts and plate. The group wants calm minds with a transparent roadmap to rebound after the mini-crisis. The in-your-face aggression that labored for Kohli, India’s most profitable Test captain, might not come naturally to his successor.
    This can also be an excellent time for Team India to ditch the ‘us versus the world’ narrative on the slightest provocation.
    Listening to Elgar’s post-match feedback will inform them why.

  • How Dhoni’s recommendation to Virat might assist Pant

    Between the traces, Virat Kohli has a message for Rishabh Pant, as India search enchancment from their wicketkeeper-batsman. The means to not repeat one’s errors paves the best way for a protracted profession in worldwide cricket; that was MS Dhoni’s recommendation to Kohli, fairly early into the latter’s profession. Kohli talked about it, whereas speaking about Pant.
    “MS Dhoni gave me an excellent piece of advice at the start of my career… ‘There has to be a gap of seven to eight months between one mistake and another. Only then will you have a long run in international cricket’. That got internalised in my system, that I will not repeat my mistakes. And it can happen only when you are reflecting upon your mistakes. I know Rishabh does this and he will keep improving. He will make sure that he will stand up to be counted in important situations,” Kohli mentioned on the pre-match presser on Monday.

    Pant’s hara-kiri on the Wanderers – a senseless slog on the cost towards Kagiso Rabada – within the second innings contributed to the vacationers’ defeat within the second Test. It made Sunil Gavaskar furious within the commentary field and prompted head coach Rahul Dravid to supply phrases of knowledge to the teenager after the match.

    It’s Kagiso Rabada once more ⚡
    Rishabh Pant makes the lengthy stroll again for a duck!
    Watch #SAvIND dwell on https://t.co/CPDKNxoJ9v (in choose areas) 📺#WTC23 | https://t.co/WrcdXdQlUm pic.twitter.com/0dAn6LsYOW
    — ICC (@ICC) January 5, 2022
    At 24 years of age, the southpaw remains to be fairly younger. At the identical time, he’s into his fourth yr in worldwide cricket. And going by the character of his dismissals in England and at Johannesburg, he has been falling prey to comparable errors. After the second Test, Pant was given a talking-to by the group administration.

    “We have had conversations with Rishabh during practice. When a batsman gets out playing a shot, the batsman himself knows if he played the right shot or not as regards to the situation. As long as an individual is accepting the responsibility, that leads to progress. We all have made mistakes in our careers. But it’s important to understand the mindset in that particular moment; what was your thought process and what mistake you made. As long as you are accepting your mistakes, learning from them and making sure you aren’t repeating them, you will improve,” Kohli mentioned.

    💬 💬 It’s been a collective ardour and dedication of the entire squad. #GroupIndia captain @imVkohli on how the aspect has labored over time to have good bench power within the tempo assault in Tests. 👍 👍#SAvIND pic.twitter.com/4P19Ffaw3D
    — BCCI (@BCCI) January 10, 2022
    Half-centuries from Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane have given the 2 senior batsmen some respiration house and in all chance Hanuma Vihari will make method for Kohli at Cape Town. However, the middle-order transition has been a recurring theme, with the likes of Vihari, Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav ready within the wings.

    Virat feels that transition takes its personal course. “The game itself kind of pans out in a way where transition happens naturally. It cannot be forced by individuals I feel. And if you look at the last Test, the way Jinks (Rahane) and Pujara batted in the second innings; that experience is obviously priceless for us. Especially in series like this, where you know these guys have done the job in the past. And when you are playing overseas, in tough conditions, these guys will always step up their performances. We saw that in Australia as well.”