Few questions after a win in Lost series...

Just concluded India's tour to South Africa was unique in many perspectives. It was first major series of Virat Kohli outside sub-continent & consequently his major test.It was first series where there were realistic expectation of series win. India fought well through the series , had their moments , battled come back from 2-0 down and won last test to make it 2-1, series lost nevertheless.

So what went wrong ? First of all is there anything wrong ? If you lose a hard fought series where in all 3 matches both teams had their chances till last 2 sessions of a test , we may like to believe that it was close and both teams matched each other. But the difference and Victory margins in all 3 tests suggest otherwise.If anyone has a look at scorecard 5 years down the line , one may conclude that South Africa was superior in first 2 matches by some distance and same for India in final test. And probably this is the reality and to think pitch for final test was not ideal for test match means India has a some thinking to do regarding playing overseas. 

Few things catch the attention, India's top three players are short on confidence and even if they try to spend as much time on pitch as possible real scoring starts only when Kohli is out there in the middle. No real pressure on opposition bowlers till Kohli is at the crease and once Kohli is out the rest of the folds soon. He is the spine of batting  and can use some help at top order especially.

Rahul , Pujara , Vijay all these three players have their game around defence in Test matches and scoring looks really difficult when they are at crease. Dhwan does not exude confidence in overseas conditions. We need someone who can score runs and put pressure on opposition at top of the order and then Kohli can really take the game away. And we do not have to look too far ahead , is it time for Prithvi Shaw? Pujara seems to struggle with fitness and on long tours to England and Australia, this is bound to take toll. May be selectors will think about this.

In Indian conditions we get lower order batting performances which help team to take toll on tired bowlers , this does not happen overseas and lower order is exposed early. We need to seriously look to have solid lower middle order with good players coming at six , seven , eight.Pandya is an excellent player but has he done enough to justify his place in team ? He cannot get into team as pure batsman or bowler ? Is he batting all-rounder or bowling all rounder ? 

There is very little need to be said about Kohli as captain and batsman. He is excellent leader or men on the field and drives them to fight till the end. He has all qualities to become great leader and his hunger for win is contagious. But is he good selector ? Lot has been said about dropping Rahane and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar , but how can this be avoided in future ? Who among the Indian cricket has guts to tell Kohli that he might be wrong. We had a coach with a stature and acumen to resit these kind of decisions but unfotunately. India cannot afford selection mistakes which cause test matches , Kohli said no one was saying Rahane should be in playing XI for first test. I think opposite is correct , no one was saying that Rohit should be part of first test. And what is use of having a new player in dead rubber anyways instead then give Rohit another chance !!  Yes mistakes can happen , no-one is Nostradamus. But there is a difference between sound cricketing logic which has worked for centuries and predicting too much ahead. Dropping an in-form player after first test and not selecting your most dependable overseas player are decisions which defy logic. If you had asked any other person who has played at highest level would have cautioned against them. May be Kohli has learnt lesson and he will rectify in next series. But with Kohli its very hard to predict and it adds spice to Toss much more than with any other ex-captain. You want to know what team is selected by Kohli rather than who has won the toss !!