When Virat Kohli took the Test captaincy of the India team, he knew that he had a to fill a large void left by Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s retirement from Test cricket. India’s most decorated skipper, MS Dhoni retired from the longest format of the game in 2014. Not only Dhoni but Kohli had to lead a side which was still finding its feet in international cricket after the retirement of stalwarts like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan. But so far, the Delhi lad has done a commendable job. The batting sensation has marshalled his troop brilliantly and has won nine Tests out of 16 matches. He ended on the losing side on two occasions while the other five ended in draws. He is yet to lose a Test series in India and his team has already taken an unassailable lead of 2-0 against New Zealand in the ongoing three-match Test series.
Talking about captaincy, Kohli said that he learnt a lot from his illustrious predecessor Dhoni’s leadership abilities.
“Decision making is very hard at times and it takes a lot of courage to do that. I learned a lot from Dhoni seeing the way he made decisions. They might have been right or wrong but to convince yourself to make one decision and go forward with it; I think that is the essence of being a captain,” Kohli told BCCI.TV.
Kohli also said that he takes pride in leading the national team in Test cricket and said that the pressure of captaincy has groomed him as a cricketer.
“It is an honour to be leading the Test team for the country. It is something that I take a lot of pride in. To be a Test cricketer for starters and then to lead a Test side; for me it is paramount,” he said.
“That extra responsibility helped me play even better than I probably would have been. For me, it is an honour to be able to wear whites and step onto that field for India. The way Test cricket tests you, nothing else can,” Kohli said.
Talking about his aim with the team, he said: “We want to be a world-class team and there is no doubt about it in anyone’s head. You don’t think about being number one when you begin as captain but you obviously want to be on top in whatever format you play and that is all that we strive for.”
“To have the responsibility of making sure that we play well as a Test team is something that gives me a lot of pride and I enjoy that. It is a challenge for you to test yourself and be able to take other players along and go towards one goal which I think I have been put into is a position of privilege rather than a position of pressure,” Kohli added.
He said that the players’ aim is to do better as a team.
“To become a great player, you need to play great as a team and then your performances count. That is our aim.
“Obviously there will be ups and downs and you will feel the heat and take criticism and negative things along the way. But that is what it is all about, that builds character,” Kohli concluded.