Kohli calls for composure and street-smarts

Virat Kohli sets out on his first full series as India's Test captain aware that what his team will require most in Sri Lanka will be composure. That could, he knows, mark the difference between just playing India's new, much-talked up aggressive brand of cricket and converting that into better results. And while the bowlers have often been cited as the weaker of India's links, Kohli defended them, saying "aggression" did not require a uni-dimensional response to a variety of situations. Sometimes, he said, it was "a question of staying in the competition". His bowlers were "not lacking in the skills department", he said. "Where we lacked in Australia was in composure. That is something we spoke about as a squad."

The Australia example, where Kohli captained in Adelaide and led the team to an exhilarating final day before India lost by 48 runs, is being seen as a template of his captaincy. But he said he knows it is not the only way to go. The reason for being aggressive in Australia, he said, "was because the other team likes to play that way. If you are lagging behind at any stage with a team like that, they can take the game away from you… The idea was having the same kind of aggression and letting them know that the moment you give us a window, we are at the same level and we will cash in. It really depends on what the opposition is playing like or what the situation demands you do."

In a different environment, Sri lanka for example, India may have to "conserve energy or resources". Kohli said: "There is no point going all out if there's nothing happening, for example, in the wicket - for any bowler there is no point wasting his energy too much. You might have a plan B, which has to work at that situation. So all the things have to be taken into consideration."

Kohli said this is what he communicated to his bowlers too. "More importantly because the batsmen have done well in the past six months. The planning with the bowlers has been along those lines, that we react to situations and be smart about what we want to do on the field."

According to Kohli, in the practice match, his bowlers bowled "consistently on a wicket that was relatively flat in the afternoon sessions. I am happy with what I have seen till now." The response to having a workload shared between five specialist bowlers, he said, "can only be analysed further when we have those tough sessions during the Test match, when the ball is not doing something and you have to bowl a good line and length".

This will be where the composure he talked about will be required. "You can see that the kind of times we had in Australia in those sessions where we did leak a few runs, that has hurt them [the bowlers] and they want to improve on that, which is a great sign."

The five-bowler formula will require that India's batsmen, the top five particularly, "score the bulk of the runs so that they can take the pressure off" wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha and R Ashwin. "We are looking to cement [Ashwin] in the team as an allrounder rather than a bowler who can bat because he has the ability," Kohli said. "The responsibility is more on the top five to take on the burden of scoring till the time the guys lower down get more confident. Then you will have a complete batting unit, which is ready to go under any situation."

The three Tests in Sri Lanka, Kohli said, will help the team to work through its tactics over a period of time, and respond to varied situations. "Even if it's an off day [on the field], you still have time to regroup and think about what went wrong. If it's a good day, you can learn from it - the positives and the areas that need improvement." As a captain, he said, it would give him "better chances of creating an environment that you require the team to be in." The series, he said, was an opportunity "for not only me but all of us, for a new Indian team. We are all pretty early in our careers and it's exciting."

Another aspect to improve upon will be India's Test record in Sri Lanka - it has been more than two decades for the team without a series win there. When the 22 years were brought to Kohli's attention, he laughed and said: "I have been reminded of that quite a few times and I know that now."