‘Virat Kohli is the most Australian non-Australian cricketer of all time’ – Greg Chappell
Former Australia captain Greg Chappell heaped praise on Virat Kohli, stating that the 32-year-old has unprecedented aggression for an Indian captain and he is the 'most important' cricketer among the fabled ‘Fab 4’.
In his column in ‘Sydney Morning Herald’, Chappell invoked Mahatma Gandhi while terming Virat Kohli 'the most Australian non-Australian cricketer' for looking to dominate oppositions from the word go and paying them back in the same coin. He wrote:
“Many previous Indian cricket teams tended to play with undue deference to their opponents, as if in accord with the Gandhian principle. Sourav Ganguly was the first Indian captain to try to change that approach. It worked to a degree in India, but usually hit a hurdle overseas."
“Virat Kohli does not believe in passive resistance. He is a proponent of all-out aggression. His idea is to dominate the opposition. Kohli is the most Australian non-Australian cricketer of all time. He embodies the new India,” Greg Chappell, who coached the Indian team from 2005 to 2007, wrote.
Indeed, Virat Kohli boasts the highest win percentage across formats of all Indian captains. Under him, India have emerged victorious in 120 of the 187 games they've played, a win percentage of 64.17.
‘Virat Kohli is the most important one (among the Fab 4) in the context of world cricket,’ opines Chappell
Debates and discussions have always done the rounds about who among the ‘Fab 4’ of Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Joe Root, and Kane Williamson is the best of the best. Greg Chappell, though, wrote in favor of the Indian great and credited him for being influential and living up to the expectations of a billion people. He wrote:
“Steve Smith and Kane Williamson vie with Kohli for the mantle of the best batsman of their era. Smith holds a handy lead statistically, but it would be a brave pundit who would split them. Kohli, though, is the most important one in the context of world cricket."
“Kohli is tremendously influential. He is also under the most pressure. It cannot be underestimated how hard it must be to go out to bat with the hopes, aspirations and mood of a billion people, riding on your performance,” Chappell explained.
Virat Kohli is already eighth on the all-time list of the most international runs accumulated across formats. In 422 matches, the Indian skipper has scored 22,208 runs at an average of 56.08, including 70 hundreds and 107 half-centuries.