Kapil Dev disagrees with Steve Waugh’s 'Virat Kohli was little over the top in SA' comment

Kapil Dev disagrees with Steve Waugh’s 'Virat Kohli was little over the top in SA' comment

Kapil Dev has stated that Virat Kohli would mellow down at the right time after Steve Waugh commented that the Indian skipper was sometimes 'over the top' during the SA tour. Kapil has also added that Kohli is one of the few to have come out and changed the thought process of our 'soft nation'.

After losing the first two Tests on the tour, Team India made a terrific comeback in the series and denied South Africa a series whitewash by registering a thumping win in the third and final Test in Johannesburg. However, despite his inspiring leadership throughout the tour, Kohli was criticized by some for his over the top celebrations as he failed to control his emotions on multiple occasions. While Steve Waugh was impressed by Kohli's performance as skipper and as a batsman, he commented that his aggression was little excessive. However, Kapil stated that Kohli would calm down in future.

"I think everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Steve has his opinion. I'm not going to respond to that. I feel as long as success is coming to the team, that's good enough. Basically, our nation is a very soft nation. Virat is one of the few who have come out and changed the thought process," Kapil told Firstpost.

"In fact, it was Sourav Ganguly who started changing our thought process. And then we had MS Dhoni, who was a totally different person. He was calm and quiet. So it's what works for you. As long as success is coming on the field, that's more important. I think Virat (Kohli) will mellow down as time passes. If not, that's his decision. He's always been like this ever since I saw him in his U-19 days."

After facing a 2-1 loss in the three-match Test series, India grabbed the honours of the limited-overs leg of the tour with a historic 5-1 win in the ODI series and 2-1 victory in the three-match T20I series. During the Test series, the Indian pacers earned a lot of apraise from the cricketing world and later it was the wrist-spinning duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav who created problems for the Proteas’ batsmen in the limited-overs game. Kohli led the side with his performance which impressed the former Indian all-rounder the most.

"Winning 5-1 in South Africa against South Africa was huge. Besides Virat Kohli, our wrist spinners also did an incredible job. In the last few years, ever since he's taken over he's done amazingly well in the way he's motivated the entire team," Kapil said.

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