It’s joyful to see Virat Kohli being praised all around the world. While former England captain Nasir Hussain calls him a very compact player, Australia’s ODI captain Aaron Finch ranks him among the four most consistent players in the world — the other players in his list being Steve Smith, Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar.
Nasir Hussain has a good grasp of cricket. I often tell children in my academy that if you get to hear Nasir Hussain, Sunil Gavaskar and Ian Chappell’s commentary, you will get to learn something. Finch is a brilliant player as well.
Six years ago, the Adelaide Test changed the picture and mindset of Indian cricket when the team had to chase a score of over 400 runs; everyone at that time in the dressing room was waiting for their instructions as to whether the captain would go for the draw. However, Virat went for a win. The approach with which he batted was amazing. In both the innings, he scored a century. This was one of his best performances ever. If India had won, it would have been a new chapter in Indian cricket. Nevertheless, Virat even today gets very emotional remembering that Test match. I remember that when Virat took over as the captain of Team India, he told me that he wanted to change the scenario of Indian cricket. He also said that we could have won many matches abroad but could not.
When Australian or England players used to sledge, India’s players would tacitly let it go; however, Virat ended that practice. He even used to defend our bowlers at the time of sledging them. He adopted a very aggressive attitude. He gave a message to the country that with his team’s great performance they could win the matches abroad and play with aggression. His captaincy reflects the attitude of former Indian legend Sourav Ganguly, who earned truckloads of respect for supporting players like Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan. His decisions proved to be very effective.
Finch rightly said that Virat, Smith, Ponting and Sachin did not fail in two consecutive series. In fact, only the Australian manual is followed at the National Cricket Academy which says that the batsman’s job is to be consistent in his performance. I have emphasised the same thing with Virat and advised him that he should build his innings.
Ben Stokes is an excellent performer and holds the number one position in the global rankings as an allrounder. He can make good calculations in his game, but to lead the team is a different thing in which there is a lot of thought that needs to be processed so that the team manoeuvres effective strategies in unison. Nonetheless, how successful he will be in this role only time will tell.
Virat’s fans are in large numbers in Australia. He believes in an aggressive strategy and knows how to play up front and answer sledging. I am confident that Team India will be able to replicate the success of the previous Australian tour. If the series is played against Australia in December, then I would expect a similarly aggressive game from Virat, because playing defensively against a team like Australia will hardly reap any positive results.
The author is a coach of Virat Kohli and a Dronacharya Awardee.