Virat Kohli’s succession of wings has come to a halt. Australia bagged the first test at Pune on Indian soil after 13 years. Steve Smith’s 11 excelled in every department. The chinks in India’s armour have been exposed. What is lacking is all-round team work. Coach Anil Kumble cannot take to task any individual but the team as a whole. The famous Indian batting line- up could not play more than 70 overs in either innings. Steve Smith, Australia’s star batsman was dropped 3 times in the second innings. He hit his 5th century in 5 tests against India.
Of course, Australian coach Darren Lehmann comes in for high praise. He took his team to Dubai to train them to be mentally and technically fit. They got accustomed to coping with spin balling on the Indian pitch. India stuck to traditional batting and bowling. India have to get a dependable opening pair between Murali Vijay, K L Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan. Virat Kohli will otherwise be hard put to get his team to act cohesively. That is especially so when the crunch comes. India however should not lose heart as there are still 3 tests to come.
