Hitting great coach and former India coach Greg Chappell has called Virat Kohli the “most Australian non-Australian” cricketer of all time and thanked the “most important” figure in the sport for championing the cause of the test format. with his “total aggression”. Chappell invoked Mahatma Gandhi before giving credit to Kohli’s intensity for causing a paradigm shift in Indian cricket.
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“Many previous Indian cricket teams tended to play with undue deference to their opponents, as if in accordance with the Gandhian principle. Sourav Ganguly was the first Indian captain to try to change that approach. It worked to some extent in India, but he usually hit a roadblock overseas, “Chappell wrote in ‘Sydney Morning Herald.’
“Virat Kohli does not believe in passive resistance. He is a defender of total aggression. His idea is to dominate the opposition.” Kohli is the most Australian non-Australian cricketer of all time. Embody the new India. As the first player and captain of the world’s leading cricket powerhouse, he feels an ongoing responsibility towards the game in general. “
India will face Australia in a long-awaited four-game test series starting on December 17, but their talisman will go home after the first game for the birth of their first child. “The fact that Kohli’s championship test cricket is a huge advantage for a format under pressure of time and space on a crowded schedule,” said Chappell.
“Test cricket has always been the pinnacle for him and has led him to be fitter and stronger to cope with their demands. That is why he pushes his team forward in these areas because he wants India to be respected in the world. more demanding format.
“If the captain of India is ambivalent towards test cricket, some managers would be happy to see him slide into disgrace as they are seduced by the newer and brighter models,” he said without restriction in reference to the T20. Cricket. On Kohli’s position in world cricket, Chappell said the hitting master is aware of that, but is not obsessed with it.
“Winning matches for India is much more important to him and he sees it as his main goal … he is aware of his status in the game and how he can impact others.”
“His response to the Indian supporters who booed Steve Smith at The Oval during the 2019 World Cup was enlightening and encouraging. The cheeky young man had transformed into a high-level statesman.
Chappell called Kohli the most powerful player in world cricket at this time.
“Steve Smith and Kane Williamson compete with Kohli for the mantle of the greatest hitter of his era. Smith has a statistically useful advantage, but he would be a brave expert who would split them.
“Kohli, however, is the most important in the context of world cricket.
“Kohli is tremendously influential. He is also under the most pressure. It cannot be understated how difficult it must be to go out batting with the hopes, aspirations and mood of a billion people, taking advantage of every one of your performances.”
While understanding the reason behind Kohli’s departure after the first test, Chappell also called her absence from the rest of the series a “disgraceful”.
“While completely understandable, it is an embarrassment to this contest that Kohli is going home for the birth of her first child after the Adelaide Test,” wrote Chappell.
“Kohli is an intensely motivated man. He will want his team to reiterate his supremacy, and I expect something exceptional from him before he leaves,” he said.
“As Gandhi said, ‘Champions are made of something that has a desire, a dream, a vision within them,'” Chappell added.
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The Australian cited the forgettable tour of England in 2014 as the turning point in the India captain’s career and recognized former India player and coach Lalchand Rajput for recognizing Kohli’s talent early on.
“English conditions and Anderson bowlers in particular had made hitting seem more difficult than solving Fermat’s Last Theorem.
“Upon his return to India, Kohli turned to the Rajput for help. They spent 14 days together, working to get better positions to face the best deliveries. Tendulkar also offered some compelling input on how to hit the best bowlers. .
“During one of these sessions, Rajput told Kohli that he could be a player similar to Viv Richards. Kohli was not convinced. ‘No sir,’ he said, ‘it’s too big for me.’
“Now it seems like a prophetic statement. Sir Vivian would be proud to have played some of the innings that Kohli has played in the intervening years,” Chappell observed.
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