Kohli: “My personality is the new India”, heading towards challenges in Australia

Virat Kohli Defines Himself as the Face of “New India”

In a statement that resonates with passion and fighting spirit, Virat Kohli has refused to be labeled as the “most Australian of non-Australians.” He prefers to identify himself as a representative of a “new India,” which “faces up” to all challenges. The reception Kohli has received on this tour of Australia has been unprecedented. Former test players, newspapers, and television stations have focused their attention on Kohli and the impact his absence will have on the three test matches he will not play.

“Kohli is the most Australian non-Australian cricketer of all time”.

Greg Chappell

Kohli, however, feels comfortable being himself. “Firstly, I’d like to say that I’ve always been myself,” Kohli said. “The way my personality and character are, I think it’s 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 me being similar to the Australian mentality or something like that.” “For me, it’s how we’ve started defending the Indian cricket team. And my personality has always been like this 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 prepared for any challenge that comes our way.” Kohli acknowledged that Australia, as a country, embraces those who do well on its soil. “I’ve been touring this place for many years and it’s 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. The last time he performed very well here. Obviously, there’s going to be anticipation and excitement around him to see him bowl. Similar to me, I’ve been coming here for many years.”

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 publicity of the series, 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 charge of the team when Kohli leaves. Ajinkya Rahane has a completely different personality from Kohli, but the India captain promised similar intensity once he leaves. “We’ve had a lot of understanding and mutual respect over the years,” Kohli said of his vice-captain. “We’ve had great partnerships batting together, which are based on trust and understanding of what’s needed for the team. Jinks has done a tremendous job in the two practice matches. He seems to be very composed and knows the strengths of our team and how we need to do things.” In fact, the way we’ve played cricket has been a collective effort of the entire team. It’s a cultural effort and not just mine to strategize and put things in front of people. It’s the whole team that has been involved. They already know the template we play with and how we want to do things. We are absolutely on the same page.” “I’m sure he’ll also do a tremendous job in my absence, but the focus remains until the moment I’m here to provide captaincy and leadership and performances as a player in the best way possible, and from then on I’m pretty sure Jinks will do a tremendous job. I’ve already said before that I feel this is his moment to step up and perform strongly as an individual and also as a captain.”