On a few occasions in the Boxing Day Test, Virat Kohli was entrusted with the job of doing the pep talking in the now-so-famous Indian huddle at the start of a new session or the fall of a wicket. There was Kohli, delivering a monologue in his usual animated style, while MS Dhoni looked on.
Perhaps, Kohli knew. Perhaps, that huddle signified the change of winds, and anyone who saw that could witness the leader in Kohli.
Let’s go back a year or two. India’s repeated failures to win Tests overseas had Dhoni under the spotlight. Rightly or wrongly, there were murmurs regarding his effectiveness to lead India in white flannels. But most countered the view by raising a question: who but Dhoni?
The answer came on December 9, 2014. Armed with some never-seen-before aggression and positivity in Indian cricket, Kohli stepped out at the Adelaide Oval in the first Test believing that he was the chosen one, believing that he belonged, and believing that he was there to stay as captain of the Indian team after Dhoni.
Yes, he might not have had a great start as skipper in terms of field placements, bowling decisions and a few verbal spats, but those are aspects he will learn with experience and more maturity.
More importantly, though, there was one thing that stood out: the intent. Rarely had India dared to chase down a 364-run target on a crumbling fifth day pitch, let alone come close to it. If Dhoni had decided to abandon a 180-run target at 94/3 in Dominica in 2011, Kohli decided to take the mammoth challenge head-on in 2014. The skipper himself scored a superb 141, almost single-handedly creating history, which made the great Mark Taylor rate the effort as the best fourth innings performance he had ever seen. Leading by example, anyone?
India might have lost the match in the end, but it sure made an impact. About a fortnight later, it helped India draw the third Test in Melbourne. A scared Australia refused to play ball and make a positive declaration on Day Five, batting out the entire first session instead. By their own admission, they had Adelaide in the back of their minds.
Such is the kind of cricket one expect from India under Kohli — a no holds barred, fearless brand. Yes, the team might risk losing matches with that approach, but they will also win a few. And once that winning habit sets in — which hasn’t for three years — the wins will out-number the losses.
Kohli said it in as many words after the game. “We have come here to play positive cricket. No sort of negativity is welcome in this group. We played the kind of cricket we wanted to play. Wins and losses are part of this game. We didn’t play for a draw. We played for a win. We lost. No problem. We have to maintain this kind of an approach if we have to win abroad”.
This is our new Test skipper, folks. One that won’t hold back, one that won’t back out of a challenge, one that will give it back with the words but won’t let it affect his batting at most times, one that will not allow the word ‘negativity’ to be a part of the team’s dictionary.
Dhoni played the game his way, now it’s time for Kohli to play it his way. And as we prepare to welcome the new year, Indian cricket fans should prepare to welcome a new approach.
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