Virat Kohli’s captaincy is an iron-fisted dictatorship: Watson

Kohli has come under a lot of heat from the Australian media for his aggressiveness and on-field sledging in the ongoing Test series. However, at least one Australian has come out in support of the India captain – Watson.

"Virat Kohli’s captaincy is an iron-fisted dictatorship and Australia must brace themselves for the attack of the clones in Ranchi," Watson told the Daily Telegraph.

“How he is, he expects everyone in his team to be exactly the same as him. This is a great thing as a leader for him and for the Indian team because he expects a lot of his teammates. He expects everyone to be on board with exactly how he is, and of course, he’s more outward with how he does that, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad at all. I wouldn’t say he’s got a temper, he just rides the highs and lows of the game from an emotional point of view. He wants to win, he hates losing and as a captain that’s how he’s built.

“One of the things I absolutely love about Virat is he’s got such a deep down burning desire to win – and obviously, he’s up to pushing the limits. It’s a great thing for his team because they just get behind him as well.”

Watson is thrilled about the fact that Steve Smith and Kohli – two of the best batsmen currently – are going head-to-head in this series and according to him, Smith is as emotional and driven as Kohli.

"I just know more than anything how much it means to these two guys. They’re both ultra-competitive. Virat’s outwardly more emotional about how much he loves winning. Steve has that same burning ambition … he’s just not as visible as Virat. I think it’s two players who are the best in the world and in time they will be greats of international cricket.

"To see two youngish skippers going head-to-head like this in such an awesome series … a lot of people love to be able to see two guys putting it all on the line for their teams,” Watson concluded.