India’s new Test captain was handed the reins when MSD announced his retirement
Virat Kohli was a delighted captain on seeing Yuvi fire (Photo: DC)
New Delhi: Aggressive, in-your-face and always up for a battle. That’s Virat Kohli for you. But beneath the strong personality, there has always been a facet that has dominated the star cricketer’s career — that of taking up responsibility and delivering under pressure.India’s new Test captain was handed the reins when Mahendra Singh Dhoni announced his retirement during the Australia series late last year and marked his arrival with three centuries in his first three innings as skipper, a first-ever in world cricket.
Has India captaincy changed him as a cricketer and as a person?
Says Kohli, “I have enjoyed that role quite a bit. I like to take all the guys together and give them equal ownership in the team. I like to create that environment where everyone feels that we have to contribute to the team’s success. It is not left up to the senior players or the captain to do everything... everyone has a role and that is a lovely feeling. I like responsibility. It brings out the best in me. and it doesn’t burden me.
“As a person, it requires a lot of skill because you have to understand what each player likes or how he gets motivated. I am learning slowly,” the skipper said, adding tongue-in-cheek, “In fact, all this might help me become more calm as a person.”Kohli knows he has big shoes to fill. Dhoni has set high standards, be it with his batting accumen or calm demeanour with which he handles tough situations.
“I appreciate what MS has done for the India team, and Indian cricket in general. It is a huge responsibility to be in that position now and I understand it. As for who could fill in Dhoni’s place as a wicket-keeper, I think we have players like (Wriddhiman) Saha, Dinesh Karthik, Sanju Samson, Parthiv Patel... but Saha has been a part of the team since long. He is a hard-working guy. He has worked on his batting and his ’keeping is world class,” he said.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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