Time to Blood Kohli for Test Captaincy

Kohli had certainly put down his footprint as well as the blueprint for India’s promising future and left Dhoni’s fate hanging in the balance...

- Sreelata S.Yellamrazu

The winds of change have been blowing for some time now. A mild breeze had even turned into a heavy blizzard. But for some strange reason, buried under all that snow, the Indian selectors failed to wipe the windshield clean for better visibility. Had they done so, they would have seen what has been obvious to the passionate cricket community at large - that it was time to crown a new Test captain for India. Although the Adelaide Test started out on a somber note, by the end of the fifth day’s play, there was plenty to cheer about, not only for the hosts, but also, and perhaps more so, from the visitors’ perspective. This despite the fact that India had lost yet another Test overseas. For the first time in a long time, fans of Indian cricket and Test cricket were witness to a spectacular fight back from the Indian cricket team. That the resurgence sprang, in great part, from the dynamic stand-in skipper, Virat Kohli, further highlighted India’s need of the hour.

Given India’s abysmal overseas record, the imperative to restore pride in India’s ranks seems imperative in order to bring about the kind of results that would see India at the top again. If it means leadership needs to undergo a sea change or change of guard, teams that are less encumbered or upstaged by the pomp and prestige associated with the position of power usually find it the easiest to get on with the job.