The legendary Sri Lankan wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara reckons that Team India isn’t over-dependent on Virat Kohli as it’s unfair on the team only after the team’s debacle in the first two Tests against England to lack of preparation. England won the first two of the five Tests in Birmingham and Lord’s, with a worrying point about India’s batting being that their skipper was the only batsman to go past the score of 50 twice in the first two games.
As quoted in PTI, Sangakkara said, “It is almost unfair to the other batsmen because we have seen Virat batting like he has for the last few years. It is incredible to watch and he is an incredible performer, but others are also fantastic players. Pujara and Rahane are absolutely great batsmen. Pujara averages 50 in Test cricket, Rahane averages 50 overseas. Then, there are others. KL Rahul looks brilliant (when in form), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Dinesh Karthik these are no insignificant names.”
India played just one a warm-up match before the Test series, and that too was overshadowed by a controversy after it was reduced to a three-day affair, and the lack of match time was not lost on Sangakkara.
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The southpaw elaborated, “They have struggled here and one of the reasons could be lack of preparation. So they really need to think hard because you cannot prepare while you are playing the Test matches. English bowlers have exploited the usual sub-continental weaknesses here and that has created more questions than answers for the Indian side.”
India lost at Lord’s by an innings and 159 runs, with the defeat coming within technically two days as rain played spoilsport throughout the game. Sangakkara also felt India’s selection for Lord’s was “heavily influenced” by the way they played at Edgbaston.
The legendary gloveman said, “They made a decision based on an having an extra fact bowler there, and having said that fast bowlers usually do most of the damage at Lord’s. So they should have stuck with more or less the same team, or bowling attack (by bringing in Pujara for Dhawan). Hardik Pandya played, but they could have played an extra batsman and an extra pacer instead if they wanted to.”
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He further added, “They haven’t played the same side for now 37 Tests, so that goes a lot to say how things are. I am not saying that it is a bad thing but sometimes in Test cricket batsmen and bowlers need consistency in selection. It gives you confidence, trust and the courage to go out there to perform for the side. SoSometimeshanging and chopping is not a negative thing, and sometimes it can be a negative thing. But a change always has to be tactical (not for the heck of it).”
There have been a lot of rumors about the question of communication within the Indian dressing room and the former skipper Sourav Ganguly also opined on air that there aren’t many expressive personalities in the team currently. Elsewhere, there have been suggestions that Kohli’s aggressive persona could be a factor too.
On the other hand, Sangakkara said, “I have been lucky to spend a little bit of time with Virat off the field. I don’t think he is intense at all. I find him absolutely wonderful to talk to he is very open. He has other interests outside of cricket and is not just concentrating on the game all the time, which I think is great because that’s why he plays so brilliantly on the field.
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Former Sri Lankan skipper concluded, “When he plays cricket, he is 100 percent focused on it. He wears his heart on the sleeve, is very passionate and it is great not just for him but also his side, and cricket at large. And I think he is a very good captain and will get better as time goes along. Every one has a few weaknesses here and there. He has been a one-man army for India for a while, in terms of weight of runs.”
