Chennai: Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli, two stars of Indian cricket whose paths have been intertwined once again in the Team India setup, sat down for a conversation hosted by the BCCI in which they discussed all things cricket.
Gambhir and Kohli, who have played together for Team India across formats, now share the dressing room again but this time as coach and player in the Indian team.
In an interview, Kohli elaborated on his journey as a young Test skipper, who succeeded one of the most successful captains in Indian cricket history, MS Dhoni.
“The thing that excited me about Test cricket and when I was coming up as captain was the challenge. We were transitioning when you guys had made way for a younger team and Mahi bhai left Test captaincy. I was 25, so for me it was like ‘I am here with a bunch of 24-25 year-old guys. How do we become household names?’ We sat down and thought, ‘I really need to plan this out. This can’t happen by chance’,” Kohli told Gambhir.
The head coach replied, “I can understand what you might have gone through. A 24-25 year-old boy taking up Test captaincy and then what you did brilliantly was that you had a really strong bowling unit. Test matches are won by taking 20 wickets. Till the time you don’t have a strong bowling line-up, you won’t (win). And that is what made you the most successful Test captain in the country.”
When Dhoni missed the Adelaide Test of the 2014/25 Border-Gavaskar series with a thumb injury, Kohli took charge of his first game as Test captain of the side. Following the series, he took on the position full time, with Dhoni stepping down as captain.
Kohli went on to become India’s most successful Test captain with 40 wins in 68 matches with 11 draws and 17 losses. He boasted of a win percentage of 58.82 in his seven-year tenure at the helm.
“Credit has to go to you because, as a batter, it is very easy to have a strong 6-7 batters putting runs on the board but the way you identified and more importantly, the attitude which you brought on the field from fast bowlers. Imagine having people like Shami, Bumrah, Ishant, Umesh and then winning overseas.
“I remember you playing that knock in Adelaide. We were chasing 400; it was your first game as captain, and you still wanted to win that Test match. That is the mindset, that is the culture we want to bring in,” added Gambhir.
–IANS
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