Really admire Virat Kohli’s commitment to purest form of cricket, states Gideon Haigh

Having authored 19 books — on cricket and business — and being a keen spectator of the sport from the revolutionary days of the Kerry Packer series, there is no doubt that Haigh knows the game inside out. However, Haigh disagrees with the observation that the traditional Test format is losing popularity, given the four-day proposal being considered by the ICC. 

“I never thought I would see a day when an Indian pace attack will out-bowl Australian attack in Australian conditions like I saw during last summer 2018-19. India was always a very formidable country in its home conditions but always struggled when it didn't have the support of its own crowd. Now India can win anywhere. And it's the confidence that arises from there. That knowledge has made Virat Kohli a more aggressive captain and a more dynamic individual and in some respects most revolutionary cricketer of this time,” he said.

“Kohli has taken a more proactive approach with managing his image. He has done that extremely shrewdly. It seems to me from a distance that he remains capable of being his own man. I would wait to see if he takes a political position on something. Whether he could use his fame and stature to voice his own opinion,” Haigh added.