Virat Kohli will be a better India Test captain than MS Dhoni, says Rob Key
New skipper has a "zest" for Test game that outgoing Dhoni lacked
Tuesday 30 December 2014 12:30, UK
Virat Kohli will be a better Test-match captain for India than the outgoing MS Dhoni, says Rob Key.
Kohli is an aggressive, attacking captain, so he should lead India to their next good era of Test cricket.
Kohli, 26, will lead his side into their final Test with Australia after Dhoni quit five-day cricket with immediate effect in the wake of India’s series defeat to The Baggy Greens.
The tourists’ draw in the third Test with Australia in Melbourne consigned them to a fourth series defeat on the spin, following reverses in South Africa, New Zealand and England.
And Kent captain Key believes Kohli, who stood in as skipper for India’s opening Test in Australia while Dhoni recovered from a thumb injury, has a passion for the Test game that Dhoni lacked.
“He was always waiting in the wings and seems to have more zest in the longer form of the game than Dhoni did,” Key said of Kohli, who has plundered three tons and a fifty against Australia in the first three games of the four-match series.
“Kohli is an aggressive, attacking captain and in good form, so he should lead India to their next good era of Test cricket, which shouldn’t be too far away with the talented young players they have got.”
India still had a very outside chance of victory heading into day five of the Melbourne Test, provided they could dismiss Australia, who had a lead of 326 overnight after reaching 261-7 in their second knock, quickly.
But Key says Dhoni squashed that opportunity with defensive fields, as India, beaten by 48 runs in the first Test in Adelaide and by four wickets in the second game in Brisbane, relinquished their grip on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Worn out
“I thought Dhoni was poor,” added Key. “I thought he would turn up and say: ‘Right lads, we’re 2-0 down and a draw means nothing, so we may as well try and take three wickets and go for it’ but he didn’t and there was a real lack of intent.
“He didn’t have a short leg or a slip into the tailenders and he also had long on and long off back, while he didn’t take the new ball and instead bowled with a 100-over old one.”
Sky Sports pundit Bob Willis added: “Dhoni, whose batting has tailed off, has looked a bit worn out in Test cricket and India have looked a shadow of their former selves away from home so I think a change of captain is a good idea.
“But we must not forget that he had an awesome responsibility of keeping wicket, captaining the side and being a match-changing player in the middle order, something that is probably too much to ask.
"He has always handled himself with the utmost decorum and always had something sensible and constructive to say during post-match interviews rather than the platitudes we get from a lot of captains, so he will be missed.
“I am, though, not keen on players throwing in the towel mid-series – something we saw with Graeme Swann during the Ashes – and I am surprised Dhoni has not waited until the end of the series to bow out, but he does deserve a well-earned break."
India won 27 and lost 18 of Dhoni's 60 Tests in charge, while they also ascended to the top of the Test rankings under his stewardship in 2009.
Watch the fourth and final Test between Australia and Kohli’s India, from 11.30pm, Monday, Sky Sports 2 (channel 403).
