Australian great Ian Chappell has lauded India captain Virat Kohli for being able to channelise his “highly emotional temperament” towards building a versatile team that has tasted plenty of overseas success.
On Sunday, India completed a rare 5-0 whitewash in limited-overs cricket when it beat New Zealand by seven runs in the final T20 International in Mount Maunganui, to continue its hot streak.
“When he first became captain, especially of the Test team, I thought his highly emotional temperament might be detrimental to his leadership. Instead, he has ensured his emotions work for him and not against the team,” Chappell wrote in ESPNcricinfo.
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“This is in line with his clear-thinking approach to the game. To hear Kohli talk about batting, and particularly his rationale for eschewing the innovative short-form shots (he doesn’t want them to corrupt his Test-match style), is to listen to a master who comprehends his craft.”
He said India has become a “versatile” side under Kohli’s captaincy, which has resulted in better overseas performances.
“Another feature of India’s cricket under Kohli has been their consistency. Despite many changes to personnel in the three formats, they continue to win regularly. They have become a far more versatile side under Kohli and this has resulted in better overseas performances.”
India comfortably leads the World Test Championship standings with seven consecutive victories, the last four by an innings. After coming off an ODI series victory over Australia at home, India won all its T20 games in New Zealand, and Chappell reserved a lot of credit for the skipper.
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“As their captain in all three international formats, the versatile Virat Kohli deserves a lot of credit for creating this winning mentality. When a captain leads a side successfully regularly, especially by occasionally plucking victory from the jaws of defeat, the team begin to believe he is a miracle worker.
“Kohli has earned the respect of the team as an inspiring leader and they expect good things to happen with him in charge.”
Self belief
He also praised Kohli for changing the way erstwhile Indian teams approached fielding and fitness.
“As a captain, Kohli has led the way in many aspects of the game in addition to his incredible batting feats. His fitness, and insistence on high fielding standards, have resulted in India being a much-improved side in both these aspects of the game.
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“The fact that he has ‘finished off’ so many of India’s victory opportunities has been an inspiration to other players to adopt a similar mentality.
“Rohit Sharma, in particular, has benefited from Kohli’s example, and his two sixes in the first Super Over win against New Zealand this week were a classic example of how self-belief has spread through the team.“
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