'Was that a deliberate ploy from Virat Kohli?' - Alastair Cook makes an interesting observation on Indian skipper

India succumbed to an embarrassing defeat against England in the first Test of the four-match series by a massive 227 runs at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. This resulted in the Indian team being put under major scrutiny by the fans and cricket analysts.

A lot of observations have been made regarding the approach and intent of the Indian players in the first Test and many people have come up with some suggestions for the hosts before the second Test. Meanwhile, former England captain Alastair Cook made an interesting observation regarding Indian skipper Virat Kohli as he reckoned that Virat wasn’t playing his natural game in the first innings.

India had scripted a wonderful victory, under Ajinkya Rahane, in Australia in the four-match Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia by 2-1. Rahane was widely hailed and this had initiated a comparison between the aggressive approach of India’s regular skipper Kohli and Rahane’s calm and composed approach.

Alastair Cook opines on Virat Kohli

Speaking about Virat Kohli, Alastair Cook asserted that the talks of comparison between Kohli and Rahane affected the former as he tried to be calm and lackadaisical throughout the first game. However, that wasn’t his natural game and he expects Virat to be aggressive and loud on the field as India has achieved unprecedented success in the same manner.

“In that first innings India were lackadaisical. In the second innings, Kohli was back to what he was, so I imagine we’ll see more of that [animation],” Cook said as quoted by Sky Sports.

“Was that a deliberate ploy from Kohli because it was mentioned that India preferred that relaxed style? It didn’t work for him. It’s not his natural way, so he’s got to carry on doing what he does, because they have been successful,” he added.

India has emerged as one of the best Test teams under the leadership of Virat Kohli. Kohli boasts of having an enviable Test record as the captain of the Indian team. Under his leadership, India won 33 matches out of 57 played which is better than MS Dhoni’s tally of 27 wins in 60 Tests.