3 Mistakes Which Virat Kohli Shouldn't Repeat In The England Test Series To Avoid A Whitewash

A tough Test series against England awaits Virat Kohli after his loss in the ICC World Test Championship final as captain. This was his third loss in a major ICC knockout game. Meanwhile, India’s search for its next ICC title continues.

They won the last under MS Dhoni who led them to the ICC Champions Trophy win in 2013. Since then, India have played three ICC finals under Virat Kohli and lost all three.

He made a few errors in selecting a well-balanced squad for the WTC final. Kohli and the entire team management are still being blamed for their wrong choice of players for the final. The upcoming Test series against England thus becomes a must-win series for him as captain.

It is also important for him to not commit the same mistakes that he did in the WTC final. Here are a list of three mistakes that Kohli should avoid in the Test series against England. The Test series begins from July 4.

3 Mistakes Which Virat Kohli Shouldn’t Repeat in England Series

No Inclusion Of Two Spinners In The Playing XI

The inclusion of two spinners badly backfired Virat Kohli in the WTC final. He said that the conditions did not dictate the playing XI which played the WTC final. He further said that it was the experience of the entire squad which was the reason behind fielding that particular XI.

However, the decision backfired as none of the two spinners were hugely impressive in the game. Jadeja especially had a bad game. He picked up just one wicket with the ball and scored just 31 runs in the two innings together. With conditions favouing the Indian pace attack, the team management and Kohli should ideally think of playing one spinner or even a five-man pace attack if required.

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Over-Reliance on Senior Players

Throughout the World Test Championship campaign, Virat Kohli‘s team was over-reliant on their senior players including Kohli himself. However, come the big game none of the senior players was able to contribute for their team. Rahane ended the tournament as India’s top run-getter but couldn’t score in the final. Cheteshwar Pujara scored close to 900 runs without a three-figure score in the championship.

There are already talks of Pujara’s replacement for the series and Prithvi Shaw being sent to England. With the likes of KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal available, the management should be bold enough to take courageous decisions, even if that means dropping the senior players.

Inclusion of Mohammed Siraj

Mohammed Siraj was a revelation in Australia. Everyone expected him to be a part of India’s playing XI for the WTC final. However, as it turned out, Siraj did not find a place in the XI which as per many was a mistake on Team India’s part.

In the England series, with conditions favourable for swing bowling,  Siraj should be a part of all the Test matches if possible. Thus his fitness has to be monitored closely and carefully. Kohli should be wise enough in using the talented pacer who ended as the highest wicket-taker for India in the Australia Test series with 13 wickets.

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