Virat Kohli learnt from past mistakes in terms of team selection, says former skipper Sunil Gavaskar

Must dominate like past Windies
Sunil Gavaskar is surely a very authentic voice of Indian cricket and he thinks the time has come for India to flex its cricket muscle on the field. Currently doing commentary on Sony Sports Network, the former captain felt that the Test series win in Australia is the beginning of a new beginning.

Is it the greatest bilateral win after 1971 in West Indies?

Yes, this the first time that India wins in Australia, in 1971 we beat West Indies in the West Indies and subsequently England in England. The first is always remembered, but this is really a historic occasion, a great achievement for Indian cricket. You can only go forward from here.

Is it fair to say it's the red-ball equivalent of the World Cup (Kohli and Shastri have rated it higher than the World Cup)?

It's definitely big. Since 1947, Indian teams have been going there, just after independence. Mind you that team had three-four withdrawals. Fazal Mahmood withdrew, Abdul Hafiz Kardar withdrew, one more player, who was picked, pulled out because by then the partition had taken place. They had obviously gone to Pakistan. Then Vijay Merchant, who was appointed captain, withdrew too. Rusi Modi too stayed out. Since then, we have had a series drawn, in 1986. India gave a follow-on to Australia (in Sydney). We should have won that Test but those were not the days of neutral umpires. I don't believe the team suffered because of that. Coming after so long a time, it'S is a big win.

Didn't we come close to winning in 2004, we did not enforce the follow-on then, again at SCG?

The Steve Waugh Test. Rahul (Dravid) got about 90 (unbeaten 91) and Sachin (Tendulkar) had half-century (unbeaten 60) in the second innings but Australia replied with about 350 (357) for six, they were set to score 450 (443) something. Often what happens in Australia is the pitches are so good to bat on, the captains think twice about enforcing the follow-on. Because you do not want to bat on the last day. Even if you are chasing 140, a couple of early wickets and you could have panic stations. You want to be in a situation when you are batting third, like we did in Melbourne recently. We scored only 100 but we want to keep the target beyond the opposition's reach. As long as you know the time is there.

Coming to the present, is it the beginning of a new beginning?

Yes. I think the whole thing started in 2014-2015. So, it's the culmination, as you would expect with anything. You could say from 2015 till now, it was a period of transition. We tried different combinations - openers, wicketkeepers. The best part is this team has so many players under 30, they can serve the country for 8-10 years, if not more. For the team to maintain its No 1 ranking for three-four years should not be too much of a problem.

So you seem to say this win will have an impact on the new generation that Australia is no longer unbeatable at home?

Exactly. The awe factor goes away. Once the team is beaten, it is shown to be beaten, proved that it can be beaten, the awe factor goes away. I can give you a simple example of India's win in an ODI in 1983 in West Indies. Till then they (West Indies) were beating everybody. They might have been losing the odd match to Australia in one-day cricket, but they were not losing anything else to anybody else. We beat them there and then when we went to the World Cup, we had the confidence that we've beaten them once and we can beat them again in the World Cup 1983. When that happens, other teams also start feeling that they are not unbeatable. You see that in tennis for example... once (Roger) Federer started to lose, suddenly everybody started fancying their chances (against him). Once Tiger Woods started losing, you know what happened. In the first few years of Tiger Woods' career, every other player would say we have to come second or third. Nobody thought in terms of winning the title. Once he lost, the aura was gone.

Will you not take into consideration the fact that Australia were a depleted side?

You can't pick the opposition side na. That's not your concern. You have to go by the side that is on the field and they have beaten the side that was on the field.

Should we be flexing cricket muscle on the field?

We should look to dominate like the West Indian teams of the 70s and 80s and early 90s. After that like the Australians did for 10-12 years. That is the sign of a true No 1. Absolutely.

Earlier everyone wanted to be a Gavaskar, a Tendulkar, a Dravid, a Dhoni or a Kohli. Do you think now the younger generations will want to be a Bumrah?

I think so, I hope so. In our country, for some strange reason, apart from a Kapil Dev who was also an all-rounder, not just a fast bowler, the batsmen have been the ones who have been the role models. In Pakistan, it is the other way round. Starting from Fazal Mahmood, Mahmood Hussain, the fast bowlers were always the role models. Macho culture or whatever it is. Pakistan produces fast bowlers like a factory. And now with (Jasprit) Bumrah wave happening and winning overseas matches happening, I am hopeful of a lot more youngsters taking up fast bowling.

Is it the greatest bowling attack India have ever had?

In terms of pace, yes, but in terms of spin, the spin quartet of the past...

Complete bowling package...

Yes. Because whenever they got the opportunity, they played well. It's a complete attack.

Cheteshwar Pujara. Has he gone from good to great?

Yes, he has. See he got a hundred in England as well. He got hundreds here. They are two different conditions. It clearly shows that from being a very good player, he has gone on to become a great player.

So what is working for him, is it old-fashioned Test batting?

I think the adjustments that he has made. Subtle adjustments. Like in 2014 in Australia, he would play a little low. Now he's standing a little bit upright in his stance. It covers for the extra bounce that the Australian pitches have. He is no longer getting hit on the knuckles or the shoulder of the bat going up in the air. It has certainly worked for him. He has made the adjustments, which means that his batting has not stagnated.

He's much maligned for his strike-rate. Now can we say it's the success of old-fashioned defensive style of batting?

It's Test-match batting. You need to bat like that in Test matches. Earlier on, you would have lovely 60, 70 but not a contribution that makes a difference. Like the Australian batting, this time around there were lots of 60s and 70s but nothing where that impacted the Australian team this series. With three hundreds, he has shown how the team can win. You score 150 and you will have a total of 300-350 because the rest of the batsmen are sure to contribute that much. Along the way you will have a partnership.

That's good enough to stay in the match, you may not always win it. You will be competitive.

Virat has faced a lot of criticism in South Africa and Australia. What has he done right in Australia?

He has learnt from mistakes he made in South Africa and England, in terms of team selection. It was such a bold move to go in with a completely new opening pair in Melbourne. That too after he lost the previous game and series being one-all. That's the kind of things you expected from him. Going with pre-conceived ideas and notions and therefore pick the pre-conceived XI was not right. For example, selecting Kuldeep Yadav at Lord's and not picking a spinner in Perth...Those are the things. He has learnt quickly.

How do you assess Virat the batsman and the leader?

Virat the batsman is without parallel. Today in all three formats, there is nobody who comes close to him. The other guys are distant 8th or 10th. As a leader, I think he is a great leader. Not a lot of people know the causes he supports off the field. That is always the hallmark of a great leader. He is not confining himself to a cocoon as far as his profession is concerned, he is willing to look outside too. That's where he has so much of love and affection from people. I can tell you from my own experience, he is prepared to do without a question. When you see a leader doing it, others follow suit.

Do you think the time has come to move on from the Vijays and Dhawans and settle for Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw?

Dhawan was left out anyway for his overseas record. Clearly, Mayank Agarwal has sealed one spot. Prithvi should get the second spot... luckily for him it will be in July.

Finally, is the Ravi-Virat issue settled? You had said we should take stock of their positions after the series.

Definitely. People have to be accountable, if you are the captain and coach. One issue that has to be looked into is the injury management and injury diagnosis. That has been a worrying factor. R Ashwin was carried along for three Test matches. What is wrong with him? Every day, I read in the paper, he is training. Why is he not playing? If he is dropped, let us know if he is dropped. And same with Prithvi. There was a possibility of him playing in Perth and definitely in Melbourne. He was sent back. Are we being told exactly what we need to be told?

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