Is Virat Kohli Tactically Naive? Not Anymore As Nasser Hussain Heaps Praise On India Skipper

Dec 1, 2016 at 4:38 PM

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Is Virat Kohli Tactically Naive? Not Anymore As Nasser Hussain Heaps Praise On India Skipper

Former England skipper Nasser Hussain, it seems, is the latest addition to Virat Kohli’s long list of admirers. Just a few days ago, the retired player had criticised the India Test skipper for adopting a defensive approach during the second Test.

Writing in his column for the Daily Mail, he had written:“It’s difficult for a captain to tick every box — and Virat Kohli ticks plenty of them. But, for such a wonderfully attacking player, I’m surprised by how defensive he’s been in the field so far in this series.

Not only that, he also called Kohli ‘tactically quite naïve’. But it looks like Hussain has changed his mind just after one Test. After Virat Kohli led his team to another comprehensive win over England in the third Test at Mohali, the retired cricketer said the Indian cricket star has ‘calmed down and was tactically better’ in Mohali. One can say it is quite a surprising admission from the cricketer-turned-commentator after Kohli was involved in an ugly verbal spat with English all-rounder Virat Kohli.

Speaking to India Today, Hussain said: “I have noticed in the last game that he had calmed down and was tactically better. Like anything in batting or captainship, you can improve. One thing about Kohli you can’t question is his record as captain and his passion for to drive the Indian team forward.”

Hussain also feels the ongoing series is a payback series for Kohli as well as the Indian team due to their not so impressive performances against the visitors in recent times. Kohli could score only 54 runs during the 2014 runs while the hosts have lost their last three series against England.

“This series is important for Kohli. It’s a bit of a payback series after the pain that he had in England. Its payback series for India. They have struggled against England of late and they would want to get that record straight. Kohli is driving that with his passion. He is batting beautifully. We didn’t see the best of him in England which we have in world tournaments. We are seeing the best of him now,” he said.

Well, Kohli and India are both on course to make amends for their poor performances against the visitors in the past. While India is leading the series 2-0, Kohli is leading the run-getters’ list, with 405 runs at an astonishing average of over 101.

Hussain also had a word of caution for the India skipper who is yet to lose a series.

He said:“You just have to be careful with captains. A lot of captains have an upsurge in form when they have success and adrenaline is flowing. It just gets to them when things go wrong as a team. Virat will have to be looked after with the load, playing all forms of the game and IPL action. Someone will have to tell him somewhere to take two weeks off.”

“If there indeed comes a time when the pressures of captainship gets to Kohli, he has just the right man who’s counsel he can seek in coach Anil Kumble. Indian fans would be delighted that currently he’s absorbing the pressure better than most other,” he concluded.

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