Kohli proposes, Kohli disposes: The apparent lack of voices in the Indian team is troubling

Thirty-three at Cape Town. Thirty-four at Centurion. Mostly, 35 at Johannesburg.

Chop, change, chop, change.

Win, loss, draw, it doesn’t matter. Virat Kohli’s been fickle with his Test side. For 34 straight games, he’s named a different playing XI.

Actually, a win does matter. These stats were observed earlier, but weren’t made a big deal out of. Nine consecutive series wins as captain muted questions, if there were any at all.

The wins against Sri Lanka were mostly easy pickings. The Caribbean was, without fuss, conquered. New Zealand, South Africa and England were hunted in the home grounds. Australia put up a fight; it wasn’t enough. The Indian juggernaut rolled, the Kohli legend grew, questions weren’t asked.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, too, had the touch of Midas till he started travelling for Tests in England. Victory hid successfully from him in Australia and South Africa even as it looked like he was mostly trying to avoid defeat. Even for Dhoni, the questions started only after England.

It’s the losses that render the questions visible and big. And, the first of it for Kohli came in his side’s first of the last three levels (South Africa, England and Australia) to get to greatness. A payback for 25 years was promised in South Africa but after Cape Town and Centurion, it became a failed marketing line.

Questions were shot at Kohli. One after another. Like tracer bullets. But Kohli is a raging fire. The press-conference room after the final day’s play at Centurion became a volatile zone.

The questions might not trouble Kohli, who’s built his persona with solid bricks of self-assurance. But not all the questions he should brush aside. Especially the one of selection.

Ajinkya Rahane, in Cape Town and Centurion, was kept out for Rohit Sharma. He averages almost 55 outside Asia, 69 in South Africa, 59 against South Africa. Rohit’s average outside Asia is less than 24, in South Africa it was 11.25, and against them, it was 8.87.

In the first Test, Bhuvneshwar Kumar had reduced South Africa to 12/3 in the first session, picked up six wickets, and batted more than his teammates. In Centurion, Ishant Sharma replaced Bhuvneshwar.

Instinct is fine, ignoring numbers isn’t.

The logic-defying selection begs questions. But it isn’t enough if they come from the press, from the fans, from outside the team’s think-tank. And, it isn’t good if Kohli is the team’s think-tank.

Guha, Holding question Kohli’s domineering voice

In his column in The Telegraph, wrote former Committee of Advisors (CoA) member and acclaimed historian Ramachandra Guha: “In Indian cricket today, the selectors, coaching staff and administrators are all pygmies before Kohli.”

The stature of the past selectors – Vijay Merchant, Dilip Vengsarkar and Gundappa Viswanath helped to assert their own preferences over the captain’s whenever required. But, argued Guha, the records and accomplishments of the head coach Ravi Shastri and head of selectors MSK Prasad pale in comparison to that of Kohli’s.

“It may be that [Anil] Kumble alone is in the Kohli league as a cricketer and character. That perhaps is why they clashed and perhaps why Kumble had to go,” he wrote.

Going by the former CoA member’s words, it looks like Kohli doesn’t get no for an answer. The team management should support the captain, they needn’t be yes-men. A captain needs a coach to complement, and not always compliment, his decisions.

Michael Holding, in an interview to Mumbai Mirror, reflected this sentiment. “There got to be discussions with the wiser heads from time to time, come to conclusions and flesh out different arguments,” he said, “I get an impression that he is getting what he wants.”

A report in The Times of India talks of Vengsarkar’s role in bringing Dhoni, Kohli and Ishant to international focus and in picking the 2007 side that won a historic series in England. With the selection panel chopped to three members and its chief touring with the team, it raises a question if two can track the talents across the country.

This loss in South Africa isn’t shocking, it’s exposing: of the traditional nausea against seam, woeful slip-catching, a basic goof-up of not grounding the bat among other things. These must be accounted for, not ignored.

After Jo’burg, England beckons. It’s a place where Kohli will be tested not just as skipper, but also as a batsmen. With every failure of the team, a question will arise. With every failure with the bat, the pressure will mount. The leader, then, will need guidance. Not mere agreement.