Steve Waugh: 'Kohli has elements of Ricky and myself in his captaincy'

Steve Waugh sees shades of himself and Ricky Ponting in Indian captain Virat Kohli's leadership.

"He’s obviously a very aggressive captain, he encourages a lot of talk amongst his troops and he’s got positive body language," Steve Waugh said about Virat Kohli.

Former Australia skipper Steve Waugh on Thursday hailed Virat Kohli, saying he sees elements of himself and Ricky Ponting in the Indian’s leadership.

“There’s probably elements of Ricky and myself in his captaincy, but having said that he’s his own man,” Waugh said.

“He’s obviously a very aggressive captain, he encourages a lot of talk amongst his troops and he’s got positive body language. And they’re all the traits that I liked in my sides,” Waugh told

cricket.com.au .

“I always believed the way you carry yourself is important, that you give off positive vibes to each other and the opposition sort of sense that this is a team that’s really together. Virat Kohli certainly does that. His players play for him, which is a great sign for a captain.

“Ricky Ponting was a similar type of player; he’d roll his sleeves up, get stuck in, he’d go into bat if he needed to and led by example. And Virat Kohli certainly does that,” he added.

"Though he is only in the early stages of captaincy, Kohli has already enjoying an impressive record and Waugh labelled his combative style as 'the new face of India'.

“He’s the new face of India, he can get in your face, he’s aggressive, he’s positive, and he leads in a certain way so the other guys know how he wants the team to play.

“(But also) I’m glad he’s got a bit of me in his captaincy,” said Waugh.