Indian batter Mayank Agarwal has hailed Test and ODI captain Virat Kohli for his leadership qualities and influence on the side as skipper and player in his illustrious career at the top level.
As Kohli relinquished his post as India’s T20I skipper with the end of his team’s campaign at the T20 World Cup in the UAE, Agarwal made a point to shower rich praise on the outgoing captain and lauded him for his impact.
Kohli’s team may have faced exit from the Super 12s after losing to Pakistan and New Zealand, but they won 30 and lost just 16 of the 50 T20Is under his captaincy. Kohli’s win-loss record of 1.875 is second-best for an Indian captain in T20I history, ahead of MS Dhoni (1.464) and lesser to only Rohit Sharma (3.750), who has led the team in only 19 games.
“Everyone knows for a fact that the way Virat has played the game has been tremendous. The passion and the aggression that he plays with and the willingness to fight and win is something which is exceptional from him.”
Agarwal told WION in an interview.
Being a skipper, Kohli took his T20I game to another level with the bat, scoring 1,570 runs while averaging 47.57 and striking at 140.55. His overall tally stands at 3,227 runs with an average of 52.04 and strike-rate of 137.90, including 29 half-centuries.
Kohli announced his decision to give away T20I captaincy in the build-up to the T20 World Cup, mentioning that the idea is to manage his “workload” as an all-format player and skipper in Tests and ODIs. He also quit the captaincy for Royal Challengers Bangalore at the end of IPL 2021.
In Kohli’s absence, his deputy Rohit looks set to be appointed India’s next full-time T20I skipper. Rohit has been filling in successfully for Kohli whenever the latter has taken rest, winning 15 of his 19 T20Is as captain. The experienced opener is also the most successful IPL skipper with five titles for Mumbai Indians.
