India Must Reconsider its Five-Bowler Strategy for the Australian Test Series

The Indian team under Virat Kohli is seen as a fearless one – a team that plays to win. In the process, if they lose while going for a win, then so be it. This is an admirable thing for Indian cricket, which for long, has historically played first to try and not lose the match, and in the process if we win, then great.

This has especially been true of touring Indian sides in overseas conditions. And one can’t be very critical of the previous generations of cricketers for adopting the safety first approach. Because from the mid-twentieth century onwards when India began to play test cricket till the seventies, the standard of Indian cricket was no-where comparable to those of England, Australia and the West Indies. To come away with a drawn test, let alone a drawn series was considered an achievement.

It is only in the late sixties and seventies that with a new crop of young and talented players emerging, and with astute and brave captains such as Tiger Pataudi and Ajit Wadekar, that India started to believe it could win overseas. We had two especially memorable test series wins in the West Indies and England under the captaincy of Wadekar.

Under the astute Captaincy of Ajit Wadekar, India had memorable overseas wins in the West Indies and England

However, these victories were few and far between. The old Indian mind-set of playing to ‘not lose’ continued into the eighties and even the nineties. Sanjay Manjrekar recently talked about how some Indian batsmen who were superstars at home suddenly used to fake illness or injury to avoid playing fast bowlers in fast and bouncy pitches abroad.

Though the mind-set of the Indian team changed a lot with Sourav Ganguly taking over the captaincy, success overseas still eluded the Indian team. There were again a few memorable wins overseas under the captaincy of Ganguly, Dravid and Dhoni, but the overall result was far from satisfactory. The approach was still a majorly conservative one under these captains in overseas conditions.

With this historical narrative of Indian cricket in mind, the ultra-offensive approach adopted by Kohli to go for a win at all costs is a not just admirable, but an entirely new concept for Indian cricket. Five-bowler strategy is the most important and most visible marker of this approach.

It’s often said, and rightly so, that if you want to win a test match, you need to take twenty wickets. And for Kohli, having five bowlers in the playing eleven means he is going to have options and variety to fulfil that objective. He has steadfastly adopted this approach in overseas conditions so that India could achieve overseas test series wins.

If we look at the South African tour and the England tour this year, it seems Kohli’s policy of having five bowlers has paid rich dividends. Almost every time, the bowlers have risen to the occasion and very rarely has India not been able to take twenty wickets – something quite rare for Indian cricket. It of course helps that for probably the first time in Indian cricket history, we have an array of skilled fast bowlers to choose from.

Kohli is lucky to have an array of very good fast bowlers at his disposal

It’s admirable that thanks to Kohli’s five-bowler strategy, India has been able to take the required twenty wickets. But the flip side to this is that India has always found itself a batsman short. Now this is a catch-22 situation, because putting a decent score on board is as important as taking wickets, if a team has to win a match.

On the evidence of the test series in South Africa and England, the reason for India losing those two series has to be the fact that India failed to put on decent scores most of the time, even as the bowlers kept India in the match by taking wickets regularly.

With the Australian tour almost upon us, it is time for Kohli to reconsider his preferred five-bowler strategy. Keeping in mind the fact that Indian batting has been extremely inconsistent barring the magnificent Kohli, and that India does not really have a genuine all-rounder in the team, India must consider having six batsmen and four bowlers in the side.

In the pace-friendly Australian wickets, India could go with three pacers and a spinner. Ideally, the sixth batsman should be able to bowl a bit, but his primary qualification should be that of a batsman. Somebody like Hanuma Vihari is an ideal candidate for this slot, and India could try and identify another such middle order batsman as a reserve batsman who could bowl a bit. Trusting bits and pieces players in number six position who cannot merit selection in the side on the basis of only one of their skills – batting or bowling – will not help.

There is a strong case for someone like Hanuma Vihari to be accommodated in the playing XI in place of the fifth bowler

The first test of a long series is the most crucial one. Getting off to a losing start may set a wrong tone for the rest of the series. It has happened in South Africa and England. India had to do the catch up afterwards, and failed in the process.

It is hoped that Kohli and co. will be prudent and a bit circumspect. Having a safety first approach does not necessarily equate to cowardice. Abandoning the five-bowler strategy in the first test of the Australian series may actually be the right call for such a long tour, where history beckons the Indian team that has never won a series there.