"Virat Kohli didn't curb his enthusiasm and was still able to lead the Indian team to a higher level" - Ian Chappell
Former Australian captain Ian Chappell has paid tribute to Virat Kohli for his achievements and contributions as captain of the Indian team. Chappell thinks Kohli continued the excellent work started by Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni before he stepped down recently.
The star batter announced before last year's World Cup that he would no longer be India's T20 captain. Subsequently, the BCCI replaced the 32-year old with Rohit Sharma in white-ball cricket. Following India's Test series defeat against South Africa, Kohli quit as Test captain as well.
As Virat Kohli steps down as Team India’s Test Captain, the Board of Control for Cricket in India congratulates him on an outstanding career as #TeamIndia’s Test Captain.
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In his column for ESPN Cricinfo, Chappell doesn't doubt Kohli's greatness as captain, and believes his enthusiasm hardly derailed his success. The 78-year old wrote:
"There's no doubt Kohli was an exception as captain; he didn't curb his enthusiasm, but he was still able to lead the Indian team to a higher level. With the capable assistance of vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane, he lifted India to overseas success like no other captain had done."
The right-handed batter is India's most successful Test captain. He led the country to 40 wins in 68 games, and had an unbeaten run at home. The 40 victories are the fourth-highest by any captain in Test history.
"Kohli took the legacy of Sourav Ganguly and Dhoni and substantially built on it" - Ian Chappell
Ian Chappell also said that while Virat Kohli did a magnificent job of continuing the work of his predecessors, the series defeat in South Africa was disappointing. Chappell said in this regard:
"Kohli took the legacy of Sourav Ganguly and Dhoni and substantially built on it in seven years at the helm. His biggest disappointment as captain was the recent series loss to South Africa after India led the away series 1-0, though he didn't captain in the middle Test of that series, in Cape Town."
The South Australian added:
"One of Kohli's great achievements was instilling in his team a craving for Test cricket. Despite his all-encompassing success, Kohli's major aim was to achieve victory in the Test arena, and this is where his passion really shone. There is no doubt that Kohli drove his men hard, but it's also apparent they enjoyed competing and wanted success."
Virat Kohli finishes as one of the most successful captains to play Test cricket 👏 https://t.co/sOvK4ARJ4p
India will hope their former captain returns to his best batting form. Notably, Virat Kohli has not scored a hundred in more than two years now.