Newly-appointed limited-overs skipper Virat Kohli has said that becoming the captain of the Indian team in all three formats is the biggest day of his life. The 28-year old, who is already leading the team in Tests, is now given the ODI and T20I captaincy on Friday after MS Dhoni resigned from the captaincy on Wednesday.
Speaking to bcci.tv, the batting star said: “I didn’t realise myself when this transition happened, from starting off as a player just wanting to play for India and now having the responsibility to be captain in all three formats. For every child, it is a dream to just play for the country and this is the biggest day of my life.”
It will be a new experience for Kohli to lead Dhoni after playing his entire international cricket under the 35-year old since making his ODI debut in Sri Lanka way back in 2008. The Delhi lad said that he was thankful to his former skipper for thinking that he is worthy of taking the mantle from India’s most decorated skipper. He also added that he will be taking inputs from Dhoni on the field every now and then.
He said:“Obviously on the field, I would be running to him a lot. I would want him to totally enjoy his cricket now. The team would be in a very solid place if MS Dhoni enjoys his cricket.”
Kohli’s batting has reached a new level in Test cricket after taking the captaincy and he is hoping a similar outcome in the limited-overs too.
“Added responsibility has always worked for me in the sense that you have no room to be complacent or relax at any stage. Even in the IPL, it’s very easy to throw my wicket away after crossing 60 or 70 runs. But I push after that because I realise that as captain I have to set an example and I have to firstly make that kind of effort before asking my teammates to do it.”
Speaking about his approach in different formats, he said:“For me, the most important thing is that the team should realise that the ultimate goal is to win.”
“In this day and age, you have to play consistent cricket at a very high intensity for a very long time to win the game. That is one of the things that we have been able to do in Test matches. We have become more resolute, patient and mentally stronger than the opposition. We test them to the limit and force them to make a mistake,” he added.
Kohli will begin his journey as India’s ODI captain on January 15 when the team takes on England in the first of the three-match ODI series.