With Virat Kohli now losing his last four Tests as captain, debates about his credentials have become a rage but Kevin Pietersen, who himself had a stuttering captaincy career, feels it is a distraction Kohli doesn’t need. Pietersen further added that Broad is under pressure to deliver in India.
Ajinkya Rahane led India with spunk and authority in Australia, leading the side to a 2-1 series victory from the unlikeliest of situations, and that has made him the cynosure of all eyes. Despite his minimal batting returns, Rahane is hailed by many as the perfect candidate to lead the side and that was further enhanced after India lost the first Test in Chennai. However, Kevin Pietersen stated that leadership debate is a distraction that Kohli doesn’t need at the moment and he can very well turn the tide in the second Test by winning it for India.
“I absolutely don’t expect things to change, but it is impossible to avoid the continuing debate around the Indian Test match captaincy. Virat Kohli has now lost four consecutive Test matches as skipper and has Ajinkya Rahane, who just led India to a famous series win in Australia, in his side,” Pietersen wrote in his blog for Betway.
“On social media, every radio station, every television channel, and every news channel, there are very deep discussions around what should happen. Captaining your country is very difficult and unfortunately, this is the nature of the beast,” said Pietersen.
“It’s one more distraction that Kohli doesn’t need but he is, of course, capable of leading his side to a victory in the second Test to quieten things down a bit,” he further said.
England have adopted a rotation policy for the players and according to the system, James Anderson would be rested for the second Test. However, with Jofra Archer being ruled out of the second Test due to an elbow injury, things have become quite complicated and now it seems like Broad will spearhead the attack.
However, he doesn’t have a great record in India to take inspiration from, having averaged 53.90 in six Test matches he played in the country. With only nine wickets to show against his name, he will be eager to change the narrative once and for all. Pietersen believes that Broad will be under pressure to deliver.
“Whereas Anderson has now conquered each country he has played in, the one thing that Stuart Broad hasn’t done is perform in India. His record — 10 wickets in six matches at an average of nearly 54 — isn’t spectacular at all,” Pietersen said.
“Anderson and Broad are hailed as an incredible partnership, and of course they have been, but this is the difference between the two. If Broad wants to be globally recognized as a bowler that delivers in all conditions, he’s actually under quite a lot of pressure to perform in the second Test,” the former batsman said.
