Former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar believes there will be questions asked regarding the captaincy of Virat Kohli. The Little Master said Virat Kohli brings a lot of passion to the table with his captaincy style.
However, the results have gone the other way around while playing in the overseas conditions. India went on to lose the series in South Africa by 2-1 and now they have lost the series in England.
Virat Kohli leadership will be under the scrutiny.
Thus, there will be doubts raised over the leadership of Virat Kohli. India is the number side in Test cricket and would have liked to come up with better performances.
In fact, Virat Kohli has always led in an aggressive way. It was evident in the very few matches when he went for the win in Adelaide.
Sunil Gavaskar said Virat Kohli had a completely different approach to leadership as compared with his predecessor, MS Dhoni.
“Yes, when Virat took over the captaincy, everybody thought that it will be a completely different way because you had MSD who was cool, calm and collected. And here was somebody who was very passionate. Not that being calm, cool and collected means that you are not passionate about winning. But there was a person who had a completely different approach and outlook to the game,” Gavaskar told India Today.
The former Indian opener went on to say there will questions regarding Virat Kohli’s captaincy as the results haven’t gone India’s way. On the other hand, Virat Kohli hasn’t been consistent with his playing XI as he played a different XI in the first 38 Test matches he has led.
Kohli needs to prove his captaincy mettle in overseas conditions.
“Everyone thought that he will bring in a lot more josh, a lot more energy into the team. The earlier results were certainly encouraging. But then we all knew that the real test is going to be South Africa in South Africa, England in England and in Australia later this year. Yes, I think that the result overseas and outside the sub-continent – if you leave the West Indies and Zimbabwe aside – certainly not have been as per expectations. So quite expectedly there will be questions asked about his captaincy,” he added.
Meanwhile, there are no question marks over Virat Kohli’s batting. He has already scored more than 500 runs in the ongoing tour. However, Kohli hasn’t received the same kind of support from the other end.
“As far as his batting is concerned, he has been absolutely terrific. Not many captains have scored over 500 runs in a series. And still ended up on the losing side. Individually he has done absolutely superbly. Unfortunately, he hasn’t had the kind of back-up that would’ve enabled him to win this Test series. There is still an opportunity to do something in Australia. With Smith and Warner not available and Australian fast bowlers breaking down quite regularly, we might still be able to do the impossible,” Sunil Gavaskar said.
Another overseas series has gone begging from India’s grasp. Subsequently, they need to prepare better for the upcoming Australian tour.