Aakash Chopra lauds Virat Kohli’s contribution as a Test skipper

Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra showered praise on Virat Kohli after the veteran announced his Test retirement on Monday. Chopra hailed Kohli’s contribution as a Test leader as he delivered for the team.

Kohli led India in 68 Test matches, winning 40, drawing 11 and losing 17, and thus he is regarded as one of India’s most successful Test captains.

Kohli always led with aplomb and got the best out of the team in the overseas conditions as a leader. The Indian veteran amassed 9230 runs in 123 Test matches at an average of 46.85, including 30 centuries.

Kohli became the first Indian captain to lead India to series win while playing on the Australian soil on the 2018-19 tour. He played an instrumental role in strengthening India’s pace battery.

Chopra recalled how Kohli took the bull by its horns in his maiden Test as captain against Australia at Adelaide.

“I think he wrote a new chapter. He is the most successful Indian Test captain, there is no doubt about that. However, he came up with a doctrine that you will either win or lose. There is no middle path, and he showed that in the first match, the Adelaide match, where he captained for the first time,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.

Recalling the 2014-15 tour, Chopra noted that Kohli backed Varun Aaron and Karn Sharma in his team.

“He said he would play five bowlers. He said he would play Varun Aaron as he bowls at 150 kph and Karn Sharma because leg-spin works there. It wasn’t about right or wrong, but about the thought process, what he needs to do to pick up 20 wickets,” Chopra observed.

“It’s okay if you lose, but you need to definitely try to win. I think they were chasing close to 400 in the fourth innings, but he didn’t give up. Till Wriddhiman Saha, he said we would go and wouldn’t bother about losing because luck favors you when you don’t have the fear of defeat in your mind, and he showed that repeatedly,” he added.

The renowned commentator highlighted that Kohli wrote a new template for India in the red-ball version.

“He wrote a new template for India in Test cricket, that we always go with five bowlers. Why do we do that? We didn’t used to do that earlier because draw was okay then. Now we were saying that we will either win or lose. Draw is not okay, and that is Virat Kohli’s contribution,” he said.

Kohli was a breath of fresh air and played a key role in taking Indian cricket to new heights.