Former Australia cricketer Ian Chappell feels that one of Virat Kohli’s great achievements was to instill a craving for Test cricket in the Indian team. Kohli stepped down as Team India Test captain, earlier this month following the Test series defeat to South Africa. The 33-year-old finished as India’s most successful Test captain with a historic Test series win over Australia in 2018-19 and a powerpack show on England tour last year.
Chappell heaped praises on Kohli’s leadership and claims that no Indian captain tasted success like him in overseas conditions.
“There’s no doubt Kohli was an exception as captain; he didn’t curb his enthusiasm but he was still able to lead the Indian team to a higher level. With the capable assistance of vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane, he lifted India to overseas success like no other captain had done,” Chappell wrote in his column for ESPNCricinfo.
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Kohli took over the captaincy charge from Mahendra Singh Dhoni when India was ranked 7th in ICC Test Rankings while he left with the Asian giants leading the charts.
Chapell said that the former India skipper led India passionately as he instilled a craving for red-ball cricket in the team.
“One of Kohli’s great achievements was instilling in his team a craving for Test cricket. Despite his all-encompassing success, Kohli’s major aim was to achieve victory in the Test arena and this is where his passion really shone,” Chappell wrote.
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The legendary India cricketer further hailed Kohli for the development of Rishabh Pant and his support for the wicketkeeper batter was a master stroke.
“There is no doubt that Kohli drove his men hard but it’s also apparent they enjoyed competing and wanted success. Kohli has a number of individual achievements in his resumé, none bigger than the development of Rishabh Pant as a wicketkeeper and batter. Kohli tended to get his way when it came to selection and some of his decisions in this area were a little questionable but there’s no doubting his support of Pant was a master stroke,” Chappell added.
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