Virat Kohli has now captained India in 13 Test matches, including the one currently being held against West Indies at St Lucia. So far, it’s been a pretty smooth ride – he’s only had to experience two losses in his short tenure, the first, a heartbreaking one against a strong Australian side at Adelaide in his very first match as captain and the second, an Indian meltdown of inexplicable proportions against Sri Lanka in Galle in 2015.

The West Indies tour seemed like an easy one, ample preparation before a long and demanding home schedule. But just when it was beginning to look like his team would only have to turn up to win, West Indies have finally demonstrated they do have the reserve to dig in deep. And thus Kohli the captain has just been introduced to a new but essential tenet of Test captaincy – can you go back to play solid, grinding cricket when your typical flamboyant style isn’t getting you reward?

A test of patience

It might be new to Kohli but it is an essential aspect of Test cricket. Run rates have increased in the last few years, wickets fall more regularly, and matches get over faster. But this format of the game always gives a team the chance to drop anchor. At times, they may even be rewarded for it, and, even more important, sometimes that may actually be the best course of action.

Australia, for example, are facing severe criticism for not being able to shed their aggressive style of play and adjust to conditions which required you to be more “boring”, so to speak. England hammered them last year in the Ashes and now, more recently, Sri Lanka have been all over them in their recent Test series in the Emerald Isles.

But for Kohli, the experience is new. On the last day of the second Test at Jamaica, West Indies dug in, and dug themselves out of trouble. They played pleasing yet steady cricket as Roston Chase anchored a late rearguard t gave them an unexpected draw in a match they seemed set to lose.

More of that was on display in the short period (47 overs) they batted on Day 2 of the third Test at St Lucia. If India had expected them to roll over and concede their wickets easily, Kraigg Brathwaite had other ideas. The runs came at a drip, and the West Indies were steadfast in blocking and ensuring that they preserved their wickets.

Dull cricket

So now Kohli is faced with a significantly different challenge. What does he do it comes down to the grind? The general theory is to go and play boring cricket. Force the batsmen to make mistakes. Keep five fielders on the off-side and bowl wide outside the off-stump. Play on the batsman’s patience and sooner or later, he will make a mistake.

But therein lies the challenge for Kohli, because he is a temperamentally different cricketer. Both in batting and captaincy, he has a go-getting, aggressive attitude. He likes to attack hard. He likes to force results rather than wait for things to happen.

Frankly, it is a refreshing change of style that Kohli brings to the team, especially compared to the era of Mahendra Singh Dhoni who could go ultra-defensive at times. But as better Test captains will remind you, unlike Twenty20 or One Day International cricket, this is a format where sometimes being ultra-attacking can often prove to be detrimental. There are times when the only option is to curb your instincts, settle down into a rhythm, and patiently, very patiently, wait for the result to go your way.

Especially when the opposition has suddenly discovered how to play well – almost as well as you.

And so we are in for a fascinating third day at St Lucia. Kohli does not like looking clueless –he prefers being the undisputed, brash leader of a young, fearless team. But now comes the test: does he know what a Plan B is, and can he execute it?

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