Kevin Pietersen, former England captain said the debate around whether India should stick with Virat Kohli as Test captain will continue because the team has lost its last four Tests under him and due to the presence of Ajinkya Rahane who excelled in Australia.
Under Virat Kohli, India lost two Tests in New Zealand early last year, the first Test against Australia in Adelaide in December and their first Test against England in Chennai this week.
Kevin Pietersen: Impossible To Avoid Debate Around Test Match Captaincy
On the other hand, Ajinkya Rahane led the team to a remarkable 2-1 win in Australia after their heavy defeat in Adelaide where the team registered lowest Test score of 36. He is yet to lose a Test match as India captain and has won 4 Tests in 5 matches led while one-the Sydney Test was drawn.
“I absolutely don’t expect things to change, but it is impossible to avoid the continuing debate around the Indian Test match captaincy. Virat Kohli has now lost four consecutive Test matches as skipper and has Ajinkya Rahane, who just led India to a famous series win in Australia, in his side,” Kevin Pietersen wrote in his blog for Betway.
“On social media, every radio station, every television channel and every news channel, there are very deep discussions around what should happen. Captaining your country is very difficult and unfortunately this is the nature of the beast,” said Pietersen.
“It’s one more distraction that Kohli doesn’t need but he is, of course, capable of leading his side to a victory in the second Test to quieten things down a bit,” he further said.
Ajinkya Rahane was the guiding light for the youngsters like Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj and T Natarajan who stepped up in the absence of senior players like Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Hanuma Vihari, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja all of whom were injured at various stages of Test series and gave their best to outclass the Aussies in their own backyard.
Kevin Pietersen: Stuart Broad Actually Under Lot Of Pressure To Perform In 2nd Test As His Record Isn’t Spectacular In India
Kevin Pietersen also feels England fast bowler Stuart Broad is under pressure to deliver in this series. Stuart Broad was benched in favour of pacers James Anderson and Jofra Archer. With Jofra Archer ruled out due to an elbow injury, Stuart Broad could be selected for the second Test that starts on Saturday in Chennai.
“Whereas Anderson has now conquered each country he has played in, the one thing that Stuart Broad hasn’t done is performin India. His record — 10 wickets in six matches at an average of nearly 54 — isn’t spectacular at all,” Kevin Pietesen said.
“Anderson and Broad are hailed as an incredible partnership, and of course they have been, but this is the difference between the two. If Broad wants to be globally recognised as a bowler that delivers in all conditions, he’s actually under quite a lot of pressure to perform in the second Test,” the former batsman Kevin Pietersen said.
As per the latest reports, spinner Dom Bess and pacer James Anderson have been rested as per England’s rotation policy as the spinner will make way for Moeen Ali while Jofra Archer is out with an elbow niggle. Ben Foakes will come in place of Jos Buttler who returned to England. Any two pacers from Olly Stone, Chris Woakes, and Stuart Broad will get a chance to play in starting XI for the 2nd Test starting February 13.
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