Australia vs India, 3rd Test: Why Virat Kohli’s declaration timing was impeccable

At the end of the second day of the Boxing Day Test, there was divided opinion among experts and analysts regarding the timing of Virat Kohli’s declaration of India’s first innings.

There were some who wanted India to grind the Aussie bowling into dust and bat on for another fifteen to twenty overs, and declare only after scoring a five hundred plus score. And then there were some who were fine with the timing, but would have liked Kohli to have communicated to the on-field batsmen to accelerate much before than they eventually did.

Let’s consider the timing and the nature of the declaration, keeping in mind the match situation and various other factors such as the pitch condition, the fatigue of the Aussie players and the batsmen who were scheduled to come to the crease if the declaration had not taken place at that time.

A score of 443 may not seem much, especially in modern-day Test cricket where there are enough instances of teams scoring three hundred plus runs in a single day, more often than not. But on this particular pitch where it’s extremely difficult to score runs freely, and on this big ground, a score of 443 is equivalent to a five hundred plus total on most other grounds.

Secondly, the criticism of Kohli asking Pant and Rohit to accelerate only a few overs before the said declaration is unjustified, because doing otherwise could have also meant losing quick wickets as we saw in case of the young Pant and Jadeja. So, if Kohli had asked them to accelerate after the fall of Rahane’s wicket, there was the risk of India being skittled out for a sub 400 score.

Moreover, by declaring after the fall of India’s last recognised batsman Ravindra Jadeja, Kohli avoided the risk of his three pace bowlers getting hurt on a pitch which had variable bounce. It was simply a risk not worth taking.

Finally, by giving the Aussie opening pair six overs to negotiate after being on the field in scorching heat for almost two days, he gave his bowlers a chance to prize out at least one of them before the close of day. Though that did not materialize, there were enough plays and misses by both batsmen to keep Indian bowlers interested.

When the third day commences, the ball will be quite new as only six overs were bowled today. Batting is only going to be increasingly difficult on this two-paced pitch.

So, all things considered, Virat Kohli has timed his declaration to perfection and has given his bowlers the chance to hand India a substantial first innings lead.