King Kohli's Hunting Party

Lord’s Win Shows How Skipper Virat Has Fashioned This Pace-Fuelled Indian Team In His Own Image

- Nitin Naik

For the strength of the pack is the wolf and the strength of the wolf is the pack,” wrote Rudyard Kipling in ‘The Jungle Book’. Now, juxtapose the pack as the Indian cricket team and the wolf as their captain, Virat Kohli.

Kohli is a fantastic batsman whose powers have been on the wane since the start of 2020. What isn’t waning, though, is his passion to play Test cricket and excel in it. When he took over as captain from MS Dhoni, it was clear he wanted to leave a mark with the way he led.

Pace was going to be his weapon of choice, especially when India travelled overseas, and he started building the team, “his team”, around quality fast bowlers. Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Jasprit Bumrah formed the core. The net for the supporting act was cast far and wide and it resulted in players like Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini, and the shining light of Brisbane and Lord’s, Mohammed Siraj.

Kohli wanted his pacers to be aggressive and in the batsman’s face. “If you cop it, give it back” was his mantra. His batting colleagues and past and present ’keepers joined the chorus.