In the past, India was quite scared of going after the win if there was fear of getting a defeat in the game. However, the character has been rebuilt among the Indian team by their former captain, Virat Kohli, who has been the most successful leader of the Blue Brigade in the longest format of the game.
It all started at the Adelaide Oval during their trip to Australia during the 2014/15 Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) when MS Dhoni was ruled out of the game in injury. India had a stiff chase of over 450 on the fifth day, and most of the sides would have been defensive during the game, but it wasn’t the case with Virat Kohli.
The tourists fell short but, a different team was made. A few months later, they went on to win a red-ball series in Sri Lanka, on his return to Australia as the full-time captain during the 2018/19 summer, Virat Kohli led them to their maiden Test series win down under.
“It takes a lot of guts and brain, which Virat Kohli has instilled in the team”- Harbhajan Singh
The former Indian off-spinner, Harbhajan Singh, believes that the Delhi-born has installed a different fire and belief among the players to always go for the victory, as he has the second most wins among the Indian captains with 135 in 213 games across formats.
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One of the best things about his captaincy was the crystal clear mindset and how he generated a different mindset in the team. The fast bowlers drew confidence, as they knew no matter how many runs they went for, their prime job in the red-ball format was always to take wickets with the new ball.
The victors at Lord’s in 2021 was a special one as India in the last two sessions of the game, bundled out the home side for just 120 and snatched the victory from the jaws of England. It was the same case with them against South Africa in 2018 at the Bull Ring in Johannesburg.
At the moment, in the five-day format, Virat Kohli is the third-leading captain with most wins. In 68 red-ball games he has captained, 40 results have come in their favor at a winning rate of 58.82.
The Punjab-born spinner pointed out Kohli’s impact was directly seen in India’s 2-1 series win during the 2020/21 BGT. This has come despite him not being able to win an ICC title for the Blue Brigade.
“You may not have won a World Cup under Kohli’s captaincy but it doesn’t make him a lesser captain or lesser player. The fire that he ignited in the team, like it may be a target of 400 in the fourth innings of a Test, we’ll go for the chase, we won’t panic.” Harbhajan Singh expressed during an interview with Sports Yaari, as quoted by the Times of India (TOI).
“If we go down, we do it while chasing. It takes a lot of guts and brain, which Kohli has instilled in the team.” The veteran extended.
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Even for their 328-run chase during the fourth and final Test of the BGT 2020/21 at the Gabba, the spinner has given credit to Virat Kohli for the different character of the side.
“The determination to fight till the end, which Shubman (Gill) and Rishabh (Pant) showed to win that Test in Gabba. It was because of the way the team’s thinking changed.” He stated.
India’s next Test series is now against New Zealand at home, starting on October 16.