Virat Kohli: The “New India” That Challenges Australia
In a gesture reminiscent of the Australian attitude, Virat Kohli has refused to be labeled as the most Australian non-Australian. Instead, he prefers to identify himself as a representative of the “new India”, which “faces” all challenges. The reception Kohli has received on this tour of Australia has been unprecedented. Former Test players, newspapers, and television stations are only talking about Kohli and the impact his absence will have on the three Test matches he will not play.Kohli, for his part, feels comfortable being himself.Kohli is the most Australian non-Australian cricketer of all time.
Greg Chappell
Kohli acknowledged that Australia, as a country, welcomes with open arms those who perform well on its soil. “I have been touring this place for many years and it is a wonderful place to play cricket,” Kohli said. “When you perform well here, you earn the respect of the public. Obviously, there will be anticipation and conversation around wanting to see you play. Similarly with Jasprit Bumrah as well. Last time he performed very well here. Obviously, there is going to be anticipation and excitement around him to see him bowl. Similar to me, I have been coming here for many years.First of all, I would like to say that I have always been myself. The way my personality and character are, I think it is a representation of the new India. And for me, that’s how I see it. It’s not so much in my mind a comparison to being similar to the Australian mentality or anything like that. For me, it’s how we have started to rise as the Indian cricket team. And my personality has always been that way from day one. This for me is a representation of the new India, where we want to take on challenges and move forward with optimism and positivity and make sure we are ready for any challenge that comes our way.
Virat Kohli
For us, the most important thing is that the general public wants to see India perform as a team, which was the highlight of our last tour as well. Our focus remains on that. All external things are not under our control. That’s great for the series’ publicity, but the real focus and simply remains on how well we can perform as a team here.
Knowing the Indian team, the others will be happy to go unnoticed and let Kohli take all the attention. That’s true for the man who will take over the team when Kohli leaves. Ajinkya Rahane has a completely different personality from Kohli, but the India captain promised similar intensity once he’s gone.We have had a lot of understanding and mutual respect over the years. We have had great partnerships batting together, which are based on trust and understanding of what is needed for the team. Jinks has done a tremendous job in the two practice matches. He seems to be very calm and knows the strengths of our team and how we should approach things. Actually, the way we have played our cricket has been a collective effort of the whole team. It is a cultural effort and not just mine, who strategizes things and puts them in front of people. It’s the whole team that has bought into it. They already know the squad we play with and how we want to do things. We are absolutely on the same page. I am sure he will also do a tremendous job in my absence, but the focus remains until the moment I am here to provide captaincy, leadership and performances as a player in the best possible way and then, from that moment on, I am pretty sure Jinks will do a tremendous job. I have said this before that I feel this is his moment to really step up and act strongly as an individual and then also as a captain.
Virat Kohli
