3 frequent mistakes that Virat Kohli and India need to stop committing

After the end of the second day's play of the first Test against England, Virat Kohli must have been a fairly satisfied man. Despite the middle order wobble, India had come within 13 runs of England's first innings total - that wasn't something many would have expected mid-way through the innings.

When it comes to match preparations though, the Indian captain has a tendency to take things a little too far. Kohli must have come to the tour of England with a bag of regrets. Firstly, for missing out on his English county stint with Surrey in June due to a disc injury and secondly, for seeing Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Wriddhiman Saha on the injured list of players ahead of the first match.

A fine century is all that was required for Kohli to conquer the demons of his 2014 England tour in which he managed to score a meager 134 runs in 5 Tests. Four years later, in the first Test of the series, he did it in style with a brilliant knock of 149 runs when it mattered the most.

When the entire batting unit failed to deliver, it was Kohli who took India to a respectable score of 274 runs in reply to England's first innings score of 289. But that doesn't change the fact that India have been trying too many things to retain their No. 1 Test spot.

Here are 3 common mistakes which India and Kohli need to address with immediate effect.

#1: Too much experimentation with the batting line-up

Kohli has tried a huge number of players in the batting line-up. From the inexperienced Abhinav Mukund to the talented Karun Nair to ODI specialist Rohit Sharma, a number of batsmen have been tried and tested in the long format of the game.

And now for the first match, he dropped Test regular Cheteshwar Pujara to accommodate KL Rahul - a decision that has raised a number of eyebrows.

Kohli must seek inspiration from the era of the 'Fab Five' which comprised of Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly. That was a period when the Indian batting line-up remained unchanged for close to a decade until Ganguly's retirement in November 2008.

The confidence of players gets dented when a side is experimenting too much with the batting line-up. A lot of camaraderie is built when the same players are consistently used in the lineup. Also, a regular set of players is more likely to tackle a crisis situation with ease - since they know the strengths and weaknesses of their team members.

#2: A permanent vice-captain for the side

It will be unfair to keep Ajinkya Rahane on the bench - as it happened in South Africa - and then ask him to captain the side if Kohli is not playing due to an injury. The Indian panel of selectors must sit together with the captain and coach to figure out a player who can be Kohli's deputy in all matches.

R Ashwin or Murali Vijay can fit that bill if the board is not keen on playing Rahane in all matches. But ideally, the vice-captain of the Test side should be a player who is a regular member across all three formats of the game.

#3: Elevating the fitness levels of Test bowlers

For a while, the Indian pace battery has been a little out of charge. Two of India's best bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, are more often out of the team due to some injury or the other.

In conditions favorable to fast bowlers, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav are just about handy. Ishant Sharma's inclusion in the team is a topic of debate despite his inconsistency, given the fact he comes with the experience of having played in the English county team of Sussex.

But Ishant never looked threatening in South Africa and his performance against England in the first innings of the first Test looked below par - with figures of 1/46 in 17 overs.

Although the new age yo-yo test is a determining parameter for a player’s selection, the test is only used to estimate an athlete’s aerobic capacity. Fast bowlers should be introduced to some advanced training methods that can provide them faster recovery time and also build their physical strength to the desired level.

Strength is an important criterion for fast bowlers to generate pace and keep injuries at bay, and that's something that is missing in the current Indian team.