From over-dependency on Sachin Tendulkar in 90s to Virat Kohli now, how Team India has failed to learn lessons

Whenever the camera panned on Virat Kohli, his body language and face expressions spoke volumes about his intent and character during the first Test against England at Edgbaston.

Losing the toss was an acceptable setback because Kohli wanted to bowl first. 

When Ravichandran Ashwin drew first blood in the ninth over by dismissing England’s key batsman Alastair Cook, Kohli 's joy knew no bounds. It continued, as barring a few Englishmen, no other batsman ever settled at the crease.

When England were bowled out for a mere total of 287, India were in the driver’s seat.

Indian openers, Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay then posted a 50-run stand and it seemed like all was well. These guys were scoring runs at ease against the likes of Stuart Broad and James Anderson, unlike the previous tour.

However, when a greenhorn Sam Curran was brought into action, the Indian batting line-up began to fall apart. The 20-year-old needed just eight balls to send three Indian batsmen back to the pavilion.

Kohli came in when India were 54 for 2.

Even Kohli took time to settle down at the crease. He was dropped twice by Dawid Malan but the way he capitalized those gifts set him apart from his teammates.

From one end, Kohli saw wickets fall and he was up against some exceptional swing bowling but the Indian skipper did not lose his concentration. He showed the attitude of ‘not giving up’ and he aimed to carry India forward on his shoulders at any cost, just like Sachin Tendulkar did during the 1990s.

Kohli clearly had learnt from the mistakes from his previous England tour. He used more soft hands, he didn’t drive James Anderson hard and was alert enough against the straight balls that were a trick to trap him leg before wicket. Occasionally, he unleashed his cover drives and watched the ball cross the boundary ropes. The better Kohli judged the bowlers, the sight of his batting became even prettier.

It was Kohli’s 149 in the first innings that reduced England’s first innings’ advantage to just 13 runs. When England set India a target of 194 runs, it couldn't have been a better opportunity for India to take a lead in the five-Test series.

Alas, Kohli’s men collectively let him down again. In the first 15 overs, India’s top-order was washed away by Broad and Ben Stokes. Ajinkya Rahane got out cheaply for two runs on a ball that could have been easily left alone. India were so overly-dependent on Kohli that James Anderson even said that England would go to bed dreaming of getting Kohli out ahead of the day four, which eventually was the final day in the Test.

The dream turned into reality in no time when play resumed on Saturday and Ben Stokes trapped him LBW just when Kohli looked threatening. If you look at averages of Chestehswara Pujara, Vijay and Dhawan since India’s home season in 2016, there has been a massive drop from the time India’s overseas season began earlier this year.

While, Dhawan made the most of India’s tour of Sri Lanka in 2017 and Pujara cashed in during India’s tour of West Indies in 2016 followed by the long home season where India hosted the likes of New Zealand, England, Australia and Sri Lanka.

But, their numbers have drastically fallen since India’s tour of South Africa in March. In that series, Kohli was the lone centurion and topped the runs chart with 286 runs at an average of 47.66 followed by South Africans AB de Villiers and Dean Elgar. Meanwhile, Vijay averaged 17, Pujara 16.66 and Dhawan and Rahane who played just one Test averaged 16 and 28.50 respectively.

Following the same trend, in the first Test, which ended on Saturday, Kohli recorded 200 runs, while the rest of the batsmen together scored just 214 runs.

It was the sixth occasion out of 67 Tests so far in Kohli’s career where he was India's top-scorer in both the innings (including incomplete innings) and this certainly took everybody’s attention to Tendulkar’s career. The legendary cricketer had top-scored for India in both the innings in six Tests out of the 200 he had played.

While the likes of Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid scored 200 or more runs in a Test 10 times in their respective careers, Kohli, who still has a long way left in his career, has already achieved that for 11 times.

These numbers indicate India is more dependent on Kohli now than they used to be on Tendulkar. Bringing in more perspective to the same, in regards to overseas tours, Tendulkar had scored 1,991 runs in 23 Tests between 1991 and 2001 and on the other hand, Kohli since 2013 already has scored 1,798 runs in just 17 Tests.

History shows that whenever India were over dependent on one batsman (Tendulkar) the results hardly went their way. Even in Kohli’s case, he was left alone in more than one Test in the recent times during away tours. From Adelaide 2014, to Centurion 2018 and now Edgbaston 2018, India have lost all these Tests, leaving Kohli’s efforts in vain.

Until India look for a batting solution soon, this Edgbaston episode will be repeated match after match and you cannot always expect Kohli to lead from the front. Such pressure would just take a toll on his game and that, in turn, will be a bane for Indian cricket.

The only positive that came out of the Edgbaston Test was a personal milestone for the Indian skipper. His 200 runs in the Test helped him go past Steven Smith as Test’s No. 1 batsman. Kohli became the first Indian batsman to reach the top rank in Tests since Tendulkar in June, 2011.

Tendulkar's career was defined by his glorious knocks in losing causes. It looks like history is again getting repeated, particularly in the longer format. It is upto the rest to stop it from happening.