Muttiah Muralitharan, the legendary Sri Lankan spinner, says that Indian batting superstar Virat Kohli’s aggressiveness brings out the best in the top batter in the game and that it immediately reflects on his performances.
The 34-year-old is recognised in the sport for playing with a lot of passion and might be essential for the side in the present ODI World Cup. There haven’t been many players in India like Virat Kohli who are aggressive and take control of the game from the start.
The former Indian captain retains a distinct intensity on the pitch, and his approach has been appreciated by certain cricket analysts, while others argue that revealing your emotions on the pitch is unhealthy.
Speaking on the TRS podcast, Muttiah Muralitharan feels that Virat Kohli has an enormous amount of passion for the game and believes that once he loses his aggression in the field he can’t be the player he used to be and urged the star Indian batter to be true to himself and to express himself on the field.
“Even if he isn’t the captain, you will see that he will celebrate (the wicket) more than the bowler. That’s his passion for the game. So once he loses that, he is finished. Until that, many people will be saying he is aggressive. Be yourself. Outside, he is a gentleman, He is quiet, calm, and is a nice person.”
“That’s the passion. That’s why he is Kohli and he shouldn’t change that. I always say never change the attitude. He should do what he is doing in the middle otherwise his performance will drop,” Muttiah Muralitharan said.
Despite his contribution to Indian cricket, Virat Kohli has come under a lot of criticism, especially during his captaincy tenure, where he failed to win a single ICC trophy. In his final tournament as captain, India failed to even qualify for the knockouts in the 2021 T20 World Cup in Dubai.
The 34-year-old has been unstoppable since he recovered his form starting in Asia Cup 2022, In the BGT 2023, The former Indian skipper scored a Test century after almost a gap of three years and five months followed by his brilliance in IPL and Kohli would look to continue his fine form going into the ODI World Cup 2023 in home conditions.
