Virat Kohli: The “New India” Faces Challenges in Australia
In an environment charged with expectations, Virat Kohli has chosen to distance himself from the label of the “most Australian of the non-Australians.” He prefers to define himself as a representative of a “new India,” a team that “stands up” to any challenge. The reception Kohli has received in Australia has been unprecedented, with former Test players, newspapers, and television stations focusing on his figure and the impact of his absence in 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. “I have always been myself,” Kohli declared. “The way my personality and character is, I think it’s a representation of the new India. And that’s how I see it. It’s not a comparison with the Australian mentality or anything like that.”
“For me, it’s about how we’ve started to establish ourselves as 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 ready for any challenge that comes our way.”
Kohli acknowledged that Australia, as a country, embraces those who perform well on its soil. “I have been touring this place for many years, and it’s a wonderful place to play cricket,” Kohli stated. “When you play well here, you earn the respect of the public. Obviously, there will be anticipation and conversation around wanting to see you play. Similar to Jasprit Bumrah. The last time he played very well here. Obviously, there will be anticipation and excitement to see him bowl. Similar to me, I have come here for many years.”Virat Kohli tiene varios asuntos que abordar antes de la serie de Test“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. That remains our focus. All external things are not under our control. That’s great for the publicity of the series, but the real and simple focus 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 is the case of the man who will take the reins of the team when Kohli leaves. Ajinkya Rahane has a completely different personality to Kohli, but the Indian captain promised a similar intensity once he leaves.
“We’ve had a lot of understanding and mutual respect over the years,” Kohli said of his deputy. “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 calm and knows the strengths of our team and how we need to do things.”
“Actually, the way we’ve played our cricket has been a collective effort of the entire team. It’s a cultural effort and not just mine, where I strategize and present things to people. It’s the whole team that has joined in. 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 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 there I’m pretty sure Jinks will do a tremendous job. I’ve already said before that I feel it’s his time to step up and perform strongly as an individual and also as a captain.”
