These aren’t the best of times for Indian cricket. The proud home record is shattered, trust has broken down, and intrigue is on the rise. On an extraordinary night in Ranchi, after a goosebumps-raising ton, Virat Kohli gave a defiant answer to the men in power who had deemed it necessary for seniors to play in domestic cricket to be continuously available for national selection. Seen as aimed at Rohit Sharma and Kohli, who only play ODIs now, it had seemed a fairly judicious way to stay in touch given that the World Cup is two years away. Rohit has acquiesced but Kohli, who lives in London these days, hasn’t done so yet. And now said he has “never been a believer of too much preparation”. BCCI’s diktat vs greatest contemporary cricketing star — the battle is on. Three central characters figure in this potboiler: Kohli, chief selector Ajit Agarkar, and head coach Gautam Gambhir. Over the years, Kohli has never missed a chance to target real and imagined detractors. He often places himself as …