Published 16:45 IST, July 6th 2020
Ex-England skipper opines Virat Kohli can never be 'Captain Cool' like Dhoni, explains why
Former England skipper Nasser Hussain recently opined that Indian skipper Virat Kohli can never be the 'cool ice man' like former captain MS Dhoni
The Indian cricket team has experienced a complete shift in approach after Virat Kohli took over the reins from MS Dhoni. While Dhoni, who is widely known as 'Captain Cool' and always held his composure, Kohli has never been shy of his emotions on the field. The Delhi-lad's aggressive attitude on the field has brought a complete change in the Men in Blue.
Former England skipper Nasser Hussain recently analysed the two Indian skippers and the difference in their leadership style. The former English skipper went on to remark that Virat Kohli could never be the 'cool ice man' and that he is his own man. Speaking on Star Sports' Cricket Connected, Hussain said, “First thing I would say is he’s his own man. It’s very easy coming after MS Dhoni and think, well, I’ve got to be like MS Dhoni, I’ve got to be this calm, calculated finisher, cool, ice man. Virat Kohli could never be the cool ice man. He wears his heart on his sleeve."
'All he sees is winning target'
However, Hussain also credited the aggressive Indian skipper for his approach of always seeing the 'winning target' and stated that he would always want Kohli in a run chase. He added, "If you watch Virat Kohli play football in the morning, I worry about some of his own players because he’s so keen to win, he could do a double-footed tackle at waist height to be honest because he just wants to win and that’s why in a run-chase in white-ball cricket if you ask me to name one player I’d want in a run-chase, it will be Kohli because all he sees is a winning target and that’s all he is interested in."
Virat Kohli's captaincy career
Virat Kohli was first handed over the Test captaincy reign during India's tour of Australia in 2014/15. He became Team India's full-time captain in January 2017. Under his reign, India were the top-ranked Test side from October 2016 to May 2020. He had also led India to their first-ever bilateral ODI series win in South Africa (2018) that were followed by maiden Test and bilateral ODI series wins in Australia later that year.
Kohli has captained the Men In Blue in two ICC tournaments- ICC Champions Trophy 2017 where India had finished as the runners-up after losing to arch-rivals Pakistan in a lop-sided contest and the semi-finals of World Cup 2019 where the two-time world champions had suffered a heartbreaking loss at the hands of the eventual runners-up New Zealand.
Updated 16:45 IST, July 6th 2020