Virat Kohli: A Leader Who Embodies the New India in Cricket
In a statement that resonates with the spirit of Australian cricket, Virat Kohli has rejected the label of “the most non-Australian Australian”. Instead, he prefers to be recognized as a representative of a “new India”, which faces all challenges with courage.
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, for his part, feels comfortable being himself.
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 something like that.
Virat Kohli
Kohli also acknowledged that Australia, as a country, welcomes those who succeed on their soil. “I have 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. 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 also the highlight of our last tour. Our focus remains on that. All external things are not under our control. That’s great for the series’ publicity, 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’s true for the man who will take over the team when Kohli leaves. Ajinkya Rahane is a completely different personality to Kohli, but the India captain promised a similar intensity once he leaves.
“We have had a lot of understanding and mutual respect over the years,” Kohli said of his vice-captain. “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’ve played our cricket has been a collective effort from the whole team. It’s a cultural effort and not just mine in designing strategies and putting things in front of people. It’s the whole team that has bought into it. You 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 to the best of my abilities 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 really step up and perform strongly as an individual and also as a captain.”
