There was a time Virat Kohli was known for his unchannelised aggression. Few years later, we know him as captain cool 2.0.
The Test captain has led Team India to a great victory run. Currently, India are leading New Zealand 2-0 in the three-match series. India have also become the number Test side in the world.
But, captain Kohli is in no mood to hog the credits for the stupendous show. He is at his humble best.
“You don’t think about being number one when you begin as captain but you obviously want to be on top in whatever format you play and that is all that we strive for. To have the responsibility of making sure that we play well as a Test team is something that gives me lot of pride and I enjoy that. It is a challenge for you to test yourself and be able to take other players along and go towards one goal; which I think I have been put in to is a position of privilege rather than a position of pressure,” he told BCCI.tv.
When asked how he inculcated belief in his players, captain Kohli said it was not only his work alone.
“It is not just me, my role is very small. The management plays a massive role. Before Ravi Shastri and the current support staff took over, there was Duncan Fletcher, Joe Dawes, Trevor Penny who all contributed in me having the ability to lead the team. Then Ravi bhai, R Sridhar, Sanjay Bangar and others showed tremendous support in spreading the belief among the team. It had to be a collective effort of everyone. The captain has a contribution to make but it is not solely run by him. I owe a lot to them,” said the young captain.
Virat also had a lot of good to say about the original captain cool MS Dhoni. He said he learnt a lot from the former captain.
Watch: How he backs his players
“When I was playing under MS Dhoni it was all about preparing for my own batting plans and I didn’t have so much responsibility in terms of leading the team. I would talk to Dhoni, fellow players and to batsmen and bowlers about plans but the decision wasn’t left on me. Decision making is very hard at times and it takes a lot of courage to do that,” he said.
MEET THE NEW No.1 TEST SIDE – #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/q2a38mAYsl
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 3, 2016
“I learnt a lot from Dhoni seeing the way he made decisions. They might have been right or wrong but to convince yourself to make one decision and go forward with it; I think that is the essence of being a captain,” he added.
The interview proves how mature Virat Kohli has become as a player and as a person. It won’t be wrong to say that one can surely learn how to be an inspirational leader from Kohli.
