Virat Kohli : Too early to judge my captaincy

02/22/2017

Virat Kohli has said, on the eve of the first Test against Australia, that it is too early to judge him as a captain and that he should be judged only after a period of 5-8 years. Kohli also praised his Australian counterpart Steve Smith for his performances as a batsman and captain for Australia.

As the captain of the Indian Test team, Kohli has managed to lead the Men in Blue to 15 wins in just 23 matches - a whopping 65.21% win ratio, which is the highest for an Indian captain managing more than one Test.

“I don’t judge myself after every series. Priority and the only goal that we have is to win games of cricket. Captaincy will be as good as how your team performs and how consistent the players are. If we are not playing to our potential as players, there’s not much I can do as captain," Kohli said during his pre-match press conference.

“The more the team becomes mature, the captain starts looking good. If the team doesn’t do well, the captaincy bit seems out of control.

“Maybe five to eight years down the line I will be able to judge myself as a captain if I remain captain for that long. I feel personally it’s too early for me to sit down and judge what I have done well or haven’t.”

Since taking over as the captain of the Indian Test team, Kohli has been in scintillating form scoring 2261 runs in 23 Tests at an average of 68.51. While many players in the past have crumbled under the pressure of leading the team, Kohli appears to be thriving under it. Kohli has attributed his form to being named captain stating that he has been able to curb complacency from his game after taking over the role from MS Dhoni.

“Captaincy does not allow you to be complacent at any stage especially with the bat if that is your only discipline in the game, in the field as well. In that aspect I think complacency goes out the window as captain," Kohli explained.

“You tend to focus a lot more on certain situations which you might or might not without the extra responsibility on your shoulders and may play a loose shot,” he said.

Talking about captains, the Indian skipper praised Aussie Steve Smith for his ability to balance his individual performances with his role of leading the team. Even though Smith suffered a humiliating 3-0 loss to Sri Lanka on Australia's last visit to the subcontinent, the Aussie captain leads the ICC rankings for Test batsmen and has a win percentage of 55.

“Captaincy requires you to be on point throughout the game that’s one thing which has worked well for me and I think Steve Smith as well. He has been performing consistently with the bat and as captain as well. It’s the same scenario there as well. Captain’s responsibility has urged him to focus a bit more in certain situations and push that much extra for his team and that has shown in his performances," Kohli remarked.

“He is the no. 1 Test player in the world and there’s a reason for that. I can’t pinpoint any similarities in our career. I have seen him in the academy he was never a dominant batsman and it’s a remarkable achievement for someone starting his career as a leg-spinner.”

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Virat Kohli : Too early to judge my captaincy

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