Amit Mishra gives Virat Kohli pleasant headache ahead of first Test

New Delhi : It’s safe to say that Indian cricket is going through a transitional phase right now. With Anil Kumble as the new coach, this young Indian team will look to impress and build on series victories against Sri Lanka and South Africa as they gear up to take on the West Indies in a four-Test series starting Thursday. After Mahendra Singh Dhoni retired from Test cricket, Virat Kohli took over as captain and did a fine job in Sri Lanka and then at home against South Africa taking India to No. 2 in the ICC Test rankings. While, Dhoni’s style was often said to be defensive, Kohil brought in the aggression he has in him. It was evident when we saw India chasing Australia’s target in Adelaide. Yes, India lost that Test match but the strategy was quite clear: Go for the kill. It has been a year since Kohli has been the captain of the Indian Test team. Leadership is in his blood it seems. He won the under-19 World Cup with India back in 2008 and has never looked back. He has led the Indian batting single-handedly over the last couple of years and now that his toughest challenge has come, he looks up for it. This will Kohli’s first full-time Test series as captain outside the sub-continent. While, he almost endured the challenge Down Under, this will be a bigger test of his mental character and handling of resources. India have often been criticised for being defensive under Dhoni as he regularly used to go for the extra batsman instead of playing five bowlers. More often than not, India failed to take all 20 wickets in a match. With Kohli, however, things look different and it has often been said and is believed that he favours a six-five combination over his predecessors preferred seven-four. India have taken seven out and out bowlers to the Caribbean and two all-rounders in Stuart Binny and Ravindra Jadeja. The pool of seven bowlers consists of five pacers and two spinners.