6 selection blunders by Virat Kohli in South Africa, England and Australia which cost India dearly

#3 Dropping Cheteshwar Pujara for the first Test in England

Pujara is one of the pillars of Indian batting

When India dropped Pujara from the squad of the first Test in England, a lot of eyebrows were raised and rightly so. Former England greats openly said that they were surprised by the omission of perhaps India's temperamentally most sound batsman.

Instead, India played Rahul at number three, which again showed too much emphasis on being aggressive. Rahul failed in both the innings and India had to bring in Pujara for the second Test.

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2# Non-inclusion of Ajinkya Rahane during the first two Tests in South Africa

Rahane has played better during overseas assignments

The exclusion of Ajinkya Rahane, who has been India's most successful batsman after Kohli in overseas conditions, from the first two Test matches in South Africa was baffling to say the least. The reason given for Rahane's exclusion was his form at that point in time, which was based on his performance in Asian conditions.

Dropping a player of Rahane's stature on the basis of his form in Asian conditions, that too for an overseas tour where his record has been good, was not smart at all. As things turned out, India lost the first two Tests in Rahane's absence, and won the third with a vital contribution from him.