Head coach Rahul Dravid said Virat Kohli has been “phenomenal” as India’s Test captain since the team’s arrival on the trip to South Africa. Dravid lauded Kohli’s leadership qualities in a controversy-filled month where speculations have been raised of a rift between him and the BCCI as well as the selection committee.
Kohli, who decided to relinquish the T20I captaincy after the 2021 World Cup, was removed from the ODI skipper’s duties by the board and Chetan Sharma led the selection committee. A decision which, in Kohli’s words, was conveyed to him only an hour and a half before the Test selection for the tour of South Africa.
While Virat in a customary pre-tour press conference said his decision to let go T20I captaincy was encouraged by the board and the selectors at the time, Sharma in another presser said his panel was shocked and asked Kohli if he can delay the move or it could act as a distraction to the team – echoing what BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had said.
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Amidst all the fiasco, Dravid is having to manage the team while off-the-field mishappenings are hogging the limelight more than what is taking place on the field in Indian cricket.
But his task has been made swift and easy by Kohli’s maturity and calmness as a leader, who has ensured he and his team are walking on the right path, progressing with blinkers on to keep the outside noise at bay.
“I know there’s been a lot of noise on other issues a little bit, outside of the group, even leading into this Test match, but honestly, in terms of keeping the morale high, it’s not been very difficult because, to be honest, it’s been led by the skipper himself,”
Dravid was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo via the press conference on the eve of the New Year’s Test in Johannesburg, starting Monday (January 3).
“I think Virat has been absolutely phenomenal over the last sort of 20 days that we’ve been here – the way he’s trained, the way he’s practiced, the way he’s connected with the group,”
he added.
Dravid heaped effusive praise on Kohli, the captain and the leader within the change room, saying his presence has also helped the support staff ease into their work and create an atmosphere where players are maximising their potential.
The former India captain and batting legend predicted that a string of big scores is around the corner for Kohli, who is working extremely hard over his game and is leading by example in terms of work ethic.
Kohli has endured a sustained period without a big score for the first time in his Test career. He has not had an international hundred since December 2019. In this period, in Tests, he has played some pivotal knocks but averages only 26.08 over 14 matches.
“Even though he batted well and couldn’t convert those starts, I really feel there’s going to be a big run of really good scores coming in from someone like him. Just observing him around the group, how relaxed he’s been, how calm he’s been, how he’s preparing, and how switched on he is,”
Dravid said.
Kohli had twin failures in the Centurion Test against South Africa. Since he got out chasing two wide balls outside the off-stump, the talk and the debate around his technique and front-foot push have retriggered. But Dravid is not worried and has a lot of faith in the great batter’s ability.
“Might not happen in the next game – I would really hope it happens in the next game – but I do feel with someone like him, we’re going to see a really big run of scores once that clicks in place, because he’s really led the way, and I couldn’t speak more highly of him.
I think he’s been a real credit to himself and to Indian cricket over these last two weeks in spite of all the noise that’s been there around him,”
he added.
