Ravichandran Ashwin Makes A Bold Statement On Virat Kohli’s Captaincy

Since being named the full-time team India captain, Virat Kohli is making strides on the international circuit with a record that not many skippers can boast of. After a successful home season, where he won nine consecutive Test series (2015-2017) as a captain, equalling Ricky Ponting’s record and making the record of most centuries by a captain in a calendar year (11), he is on the brink on making history in South Africa.

Team India is currently touring the Rainbow nation for a series each in all the three formats, and after losing the Test leg by 2-1, Virat Kohli & Co. have registered a rather impressive comeback in the limited overs leg with a lead of 2-0 in the 6-match ODI series.

While the skipper himself has a century, his first in South Africa, and an unbeaten knock of 46 in the two ODIs played against the Proteas, the wrist-spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav has made it to the spotlight by completely dismantling the opposition’s batting order.

Also Read: Kuldeep Yadav And Yuzvendra Chahal Add New Feathers To Their Young Tally Of Records

This brings us to another renowned off-spinner from India, Ravichandran Ashwin, who hasn’t had much of n limited-overs outing in the last one year and the duo of Chahal-Yadav seem to have overtaken the reign from the Chennai-based spinner.

However, while talking to media after Tamil Nadu’s opening match in the Vijay Hazare Trophy
against Gujarat, Ashwin gave a ringing endorsement to Virat Kohli’s captaincy, saying that the Indian skipper is at par with some of the greatest captains in cricketing history.

Here is what Ravichandran Ashwin had to say about Virat Kohli’s leadership.

“Kohli is someone who will go for a victory come what may. He does not have a single negative bone in his body and always talks about a win, never thinking about saving situations. We’re always moving ahead and it is good because the other players know what is asked of them. It gives a huge amount of intensity to the team.”

“This is Virat Kohli’s first overseas series as a full-time captain and I am sure all the greatest captains in the past also have a set of home games.Kohli is already on par with many of the greatest captains who have played the game. It is the best that we give credit to him.”

Talking about his individual performances in the India vs South Africa Test Series, Ravichandran Ashwin said,

“On a personal account, I would say that I batted beautifully in the first two Test matches and if I had just held myself after the second new ball was taken, it could’ve made a massive difference. I feel a little disappointed for that. But in general it was my role in the game and I had to counter-attack.”

“As an individual, whatever I wanted to achieve in the series I did achieve. Probably a few lesser wickets than I would have ideally liked and a few dropped catches, which, on the other hand, is part of the game.”

Everything said and done, Virat Kohli is indeed traveling on a chariot of victories and if we keep aside the two Test defeats, his leadership qualities have really blossomed in the recent past. His aggression can be seen making an impact on the whole team’s approach and the never say die attitude is highly likely to take team India to new heights in the coming future.

As for Ravichandran Ashwin, the off-break bowler is rumored to lead Kings XI Punjab in the upcoming IPL 2018 which will also give him a chance to test everything that he has learned from two of the most successful Indian skippers ever, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli.