IND vs NZ | Love Virat Kohli’s attitude, but sometimes you need to be cautious, writes Ian Chappell

Despite their dismal showing, particularly with the bat, in the first Test against the Kiwis at the Basin Reserve, Kohli had that he did not believe cautious batting will help their cause. And while Chappell admits that the Indian skipper’s views on batting are generally admirable, the former Aussie reckons there is a time to attack and a time, although occasionally, to retreat. 

“Kohli's comments on batting are generally admirable, especially his reason for not adopting innovative shots in short-form matches - so that they don't infiltrate his Test match style. However, there's a time for aggression and there's also occasionally a requirement to bat cautiously in Test cricket. New Zealand, much like England's seaming surfaces, is a place where caution is required more often than in Australia, where most pitches are extremely true,” Chappell wrote in his column for ESPNCricinfo. 

Chappell further added that India needed to be more careful in picking their batting order. With the experienced Rohit Sharma absent, Chappell reckons there needs to be more impetus in Pujara’s batting at No.3 

“It's important to get the balance right and to place players in positions where they are comfortable and hence more likely to succeed. Pujara normally bats behind Sharma and Mayank Agarwal and ahead of Kohli. That's an adequate amount of strokeplay surrounding Pujara, and as a judicious shot maker, he's ideal at No.3 for balance. Mind you, Pujara needs to be careful he doesn't slip into net-practice mode and forget that the object in a match is to score runs regularly,” he wrote.

Rohit’s absence has meant opportunities for Shaw, ahead of Shubman Gill who has been opening the innings for India ‘A’ for quite some time. Chappell has no doubts about the 20-year-old’s talent but hopes that the youngster learns the art of batting long as quickly as possible. 

“There's no doubting Shaw's precocious talent, but he needs to learn that there are times for caution against good bowling. He needs to understand that a quick-fire 20 at the right time might win a T20 encounter but dismissal at that stage of a Test innings can be extremely costly. Things looked more promising after a flurry of boundaries in Christchurch, but again he was dismissed at an inopportune time,” Chappell added.