India Test and ODI captain, Virat Kohli spoke about his partnership with head coach Rahul Dravid as India beat New Zealand by 372 runs to clinch the series. This is the first time that Kohli and Dravid have worked with each other as the batter was rested for the three T20Is and Kanpur Test, with Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane leading in the two formats against New Zealand respectively.
While Kohli's association with former coach Ravi Shastri was a fruitful one, with the two individuals a sharing great rapport and camaraderie during their tenure in charge of the team, it was always going to be interesting knowing about the captain's take on Dravid, especially given the infamous fallout between Kohli and another former India coach Anil Kumble in 2017. As India sealed a comprehensive win over New Zealand and registered a series win against the World Champions, Kohli reflected on working with the legendary Dravid.
"We all are serving Indian cricket, the previous management did a terrific job, now with Rahul bhai coming in, the mindset is the same. To take Indian cricket forward. It's important to keep the standards of Indian cricket and make sure it's always growing," Kohli said after the match.
Kohli went on to speak about the testing tour of South Africa that awaits and begins in almost three-weeks' time. It was back in early 2018 that a win in South Africa ignited India's spark of winning matches overseas. From there, India achieved great heights, winning consecutive Test series in Australia and putting up a commendable show in England. Weighing in on the same, Kohli admitted that the task at hand is going to be tough, but also that the same is something he believes will bring out the best in the players.
{{/usCountry}}Kohli went on to speak about the testing tour of South Africa that awaits and begins in almost three-weeks' time. It was back in early 2018 that a win in South Africa ignited India's spark of winning matches overseas. From there, India achieved great heights, winning consecutive Test series in Australia and putting up a commendable show in England. Weighing in on the same, Kohli admitted that the task at hand is going to be tough, but also that the same is something he believes will bring out the best in the players.
{{/usCountry}}"It's a good challenge in South Africa, that was the start of our perseverance to build abroad, Australia was an accumulation of those efforts. We have the belief we can win anywhere. It's a tough challenge, something we want to achieve, everyone's motivated," added the India captain.