The more you speak the more you admire the leader in Virat Kohli, he serves as the best example of the old expression “leading from the front”. The man has been scoring loads of runs ever since he took over the reins of Indian cricket team. Kohli has belted in centuries after centuries, breaking records after records, and time and again he steered India’s ship across the winning shores with his unbelievable performances.
Performances speak for themselves
Kohli has stacked up impressive numbers in all three formats of cricket, ever since M.S. Dhoni passed on the leadership of Test to him in the middle of Australia tour in 2015, he has been captaining the ODI side since 2014, while Mahi handed over the captaincy of T-20 Internationals in 2016. He maintains a pretty healthy winning average with over 50 per cent win percentage across all formats. Not only does he boasts of impressive win percentage as a captain but he also holds exceptional batting averages across all the three formats.
Captain in the making
Captain Kohli’s voyage on the path establishing India’s dominance in the world of cricket started as the captain of India Under-19 World Cup team, where the world saw a glimpse of the hardworking and zealous character of Kohli, when he led his team to an emphatic win in the finals against South Africa to get their hands on the coveted Under-19 World Cup. The world took notice of a young and energetic future Captain of the senior Indian Cricket, who was ready take it to the throat of the oppositions and lead by an example, he had all the major attributes required to become the Captain of Indian Cricket Team. Team India has destroyed oppositions at will while dug deep and got the results against tough oppositions with collective team performances led by Captain Kohli from the front with mouth-watering batting display and charismatic leadership on the cricket field.
Debacle in South Africa
Although the recent results in the test series against South Africa highlighted the chink in the armory of Kohli’s Men in Blue as they registered only one win in the three-test match series while lost the remaining two, this dashed hopes of millions of Indians who expected the team to break the 27 years old jinx of winning the first ever test series on the South African turf. Even the captain couldn’t convert the starts that he got, except the 150+ and 50+ in 2nd and 3rd test respectively. Kohli’s men displayed amazing character in bouncing back from the test series defeat to thrash the Proteas in the six ODIs by clinching the series with an emphatic 5-1 series win and currently leading the three-match T20 series 1-0. Virat’s success as a cricket captain has a lot to do with Team India playing the majority of the series’ within the comfort and luxury of subcontinent pitches.
Onwards and Upwards
The team needs to work on their frailties that were brutally exposed during the recent test series against the Proteas before traveling to experience the English Summer in July and a series Down Under in the year-end, as these are the toughest series on Team India’s calendar this year, while India will also play a series in India against the West Indies cricket team. Kohli will hope to add plenty of runs in his kitty before next year’s World Cup in England and Wales while establishing India’s dominance in England and Australia in all three formats and proving his critics wrong.
Controversies and Kohli
Kohli’s tenure as a captain has been marred with a few share of controversies from the Smith-DRS Saga where Kohli intimated Aussie Captain Steve Smith about the unethical practices that were used by the Australian Cricket Team during the exercise of Decision Review System in the second test in Bengaluru. The other controversial incident involves the hiatus between Kohli and Kumble that led to an unsettled dressing room as Kohli was unhappy with Kumble’s ‘Head Masterly’ approach, while the latter felt that the relation between coach and captain was ‘untenable’.
The future?
Kohli is human after all even though his performances have been out of this world on a frequently basis. Captain Kohli, is definitely the right choice to lead Indian Cricket Team to the pinnacle of world cricket as he has time and again proven his mettle by leading from the front, displaying noteworthy performances on a consistent base, and there isn’t any successor in the present squad who can match the performances and tactics of Virat Kohli to lead the team in the near future. The Indian camp looks happy under his leadership and the camaraderie can be seen and felt all throughout the team in almost every performance, with each teammate helping out each other to perform at the utmost level.