Virat Kohli gives easy singles to opposition batsmen, says Ian Chappell

Known to be one of the shrewdest captains the game of cricket has produced, former Australian cricketer Ian Chappell has come with an interesting viewpoint on the captaincy of Virat Kohli, who recently led India to victory in the first of the four Tests they are playing in Australia at the moment. The victory took Kohli one step closer to becoming the most successful Test captain for India, the crown for which currently rests with Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Kohli has been criticized over the past despite his impressive record as the captain as one who doesn’t always take the best of decisions while selecting a team or making bowling changes. Another allegation against captain Kohli is that he concedes too many single runs to the opponent. For 75-year-old Chappell, however, some of these are not mistakes that only Kohli commits as the skipper.

“I think Kohli is a good captain. Like all modern captains, he sets deep fielders too often. He gives easy singles to batsmen. If you give good batsmen easy singles early in their innings you can quite often pay a hefty price for that,” Chappell, who led Australia to 15 wins in 30 matches while lost only five between 1971-75, told ESPNCricinfo.

India beat Australia by 31 runs in the first Test

India secured a 31-run victory over Australia in the first Test match played at Adelaide Oval despite a strong resistance by the hosts’ lower order on the final day of the game. Choosing to bat after winning the toss, the visitors scored 250 runs in their first innings riding Cheteshwar Pujara’s century and then their bowlers won half the battle for their side by restricting Australia to 235.

India’s No. 3 batsman Cheteshwar Pujara played another innings of 71 in the second innings along with vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane (70) to take India past 300 and then chasing 323 runs to win the match, the home team was all out for 291 after struggling at 187 for 7.

This is the first time that India took a lead in the very first Test played in Australia, bettering the 2003 tour’s record when they won the second Test to go 1-0 up. That series was eventually drawn 1-1 but India have all the opportunities this time to register their first-ever Test series win Down Under.

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