"The captains had contrasting views about the pitch" - Zaheer Khan gives his verdict on Virat Kohli's decision to bat first

Former Indian pacer Zaheer Khan opined that the Indian team management might have made a fatal error in evaluating the conditions on offer at Headingley on Day 1. He also observed that the two skippers, Joe Root and Virat Kohli, had contrasting evaluations of the pitch at the toss.

Headingley is home territory for Root, who represents Yorkshire in the County Championship. This means that he would have ample knowledge of the surface and conditions on offer.

After electing to bat first, India suffered a humiliating collapse and got skittled out for 78 in just 40.4 overs. Speaking on Cricbuzz chatter, Zaheer Khan gave his viewpoint about Virat Kohli's decision to bat first on this track at Headingley on Day 1. Zaheer Khan said:

"Today, I definitely felt that the captains had contrasting views about the pitch. During the previous two Test matches of the series, this wasn't the case. Both skippers wanted to do the same thing in those games at the toss. But today, the conversation at the toss was contrasting as Root's analysis of the pitch was different from that of Virat Kohli."

Zaheer Khan added:

"Maybe India made a mistake in assessing the conditions. Maybe they went by the manner in which the practice wickets behaved, or their research about the history of the pitch at the venue played a role in this decision. I think Team India faltered in one of these aspects."

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We need to understand that Virat Kohli assessed the conditions in a certain way: Zaheer Khan

Zaheer Khan continued to explain the thought process and the planning that goes into the decision-making of a skipper. He added that irrespective of the result of the game, the skipper would learn a lot, which should be while moving ahead positively. Zaheer Khan said:

"If you look at India's first innings scorecard, the decision looks like a mistake. But when the captain makes the decision, we need to understand that he assessed the conditions in a certain way. We also need to consider what his mindset was and what the plan of team management was."

Zaheer Khan added:

"Decisions can be right or wrong and might also backfire at times. In hindsight, one gets a lot of learnings from a match irrespective of the final outcome of it."

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