Why Kohli should adapt Dhoni's CSK model in England

Virat is expected to play with six batsmen and five bowlers --- with Dinesh Karthik as the sixth along with the permanent set of Rohit, Shikhar, Virat, Raina and MSD to take all load, and responsibility, to chase down whatever monumental is in front of them. But it would be foolhardy to go against an in-form and rampaging English line-up of Butler, Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Root, Morgan and Bairstow, hoping the sparkle of kookaburra will do the trick for Bhuneshwar Kumar or alternatively Chahal and Kuldeep will grab the softer ball and get some grip and turn from the Old Trafford pitch. 

Virat Kohli has just promised his fans some “fearless cricket”. That’s a great endorsement line for Team India brand; easily synchronized with his touch of brashness on the cricket field and what Virat is in real life as well.

But on the eve of the first T20I against England, there’s another way to look into this statement from Virat --– that he will continue the template he set for Royal Challengers Bangalore during the IPL, flirting with the danger of going with just ‘five’ bowlers -– a set that includes Hardik Pandya and now unfortunately excludes Jasprit Bumrah due to injury.

Virat is expected to play with six batsmen and five bowlers --- with Dinesh Karthik as the sixth along with the permanent set of Rohit, Shikhar, Virat, Raina and MSD to take all load, and responsibility, to chase down whatever monumental is in front of them. But it would be foolhardy to go against an in-form and rampaging English line-up of Butler, Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Root, Morgan and Bairstow, hoping the sparkle of kookaburra will do the trick for Bhuneshwar Kumar or alternatively Chahal and Kuldeep will grab the softer ball and get some grip and turn from the Old Trafford pitch. 

The absence of the reliable death over specialist in Bumrah is a big problem for Virat as much as it is aggravated by the presence of erratic Umesh Yadav and unpredictable Hardik Pandya. It’s the lack of Plan B with the ball and over-reliance on the batting card which sends shivers that Virat might end up getting the same report card as he did for RCB in the IPL.  

Sometimes, it’s good to be a tad fearful --- or atleast respectful --- of the opposition like Dhoni has been during the IPL, and rightly got the dividends by lifting the trophy. He kept Harbhajan in the CSK XI, mostly didn’t bowl him either but Dhoni was always more comfortable with having more than 7-8 bowling options with him. Dhoni was right in his thought that you might end up needing just 2-3 batsmen for full 20 overs but no matter what, you always need five bowlers to bowl the quota. And in the slam bang version, it’s good to have back-ups during emergency.

Virat hasn’t been too successful with his template in the IPL, and given this situation of not having five reliable bowlers in the squad for some unforeseen scenarios, he may well copy paste Dhoni’s or the CSK template. Simply put, Virat has to make a choice between RCB and CSK template – that means playing an additional bowler or not in the XI.  

Virat’s batting position will also remain a subject of great debate for Team India, as it has been for RCB all these years but that will not crop up immediately. Not until Team India meets the RCB fate of under-achievers.