ICC World Cup 2019 | Virat Kohli wears his heart on his sleeve, says Allan Border
Australian great Allan Border heaped praise on Indian captain, Virat Kohli, whom the former labelled as an ‘in-your-face’ captain in the limited-overs format ahead of the upcoming World Cup. Border added that Australia’s Aaron Finch and England's Eoin Morgan will also do well in the coming weeks.
The ICC World Cup 2019 is just five days away and all the participating teams are entering the final days of preparation for the tournament by playing their last set of warm-up games to find their rhythm and adjust to English conditions. Former Australia batsman, Allan Border, revealed his opinion on the respective captains of the three favorites - England, India and Australia.
Border, who led Australia to the World Cup in 1987, labelled India's Virat Kohli as an 'in-your-face' type of captain.
"Virat Kohli, I think he's a different type of captain. He's a bit more of a boisterous-type player and wears his heart on his sleeve. So the players know if they've stuffed up because he's one of those really in-your-face-type skippers," Border said in a recent interview with TOI.
Border heaped praise on Eoin Morgan of England whom the former claims will be crucial to the hosts’ World Cup campaign in the coming weeks.
"England, I think they're doing exceptionally well. They've brought a different game plan to the table which is going to be interesting to see how it pans out in the World Cup. They're a dangerous side because of it and you know as the bowling group you're under pressure.
"The way it looks to me, they might drop the odd game but they're going to win enough games to get through to the semi-finals and that's what it's all about. That game plan under Trevor Bayliss as coach and Eoin Morgan, I think he's a seriously good one-day cricketer, and he's as good a captain as there is going around. Tactically he's very good and their game plan at the moment is a dangerous game plan to play against," Border added.
The 63-year-old former batsman who captained Australia in 178 ODIs added that he was also impressed with Aaron Finch's leadership qualities, who took over since Tim Paine was dropped from the limited-overs side.
"Aaron Finch is doing a great job. He's got a good feel around the group, I think that's what he brings to his captaincy. Everyone knows their responsibilities and it's a good environment to play in. So that's a good start as a captain. He's done a very good job. Tactically, I think they (Kohli, Morgan and Finch) all do very well," he concluded.