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'He has handled that beautifully,' India head coach Ravi Shastri praises Virat Kohli's evolution as captain
India vs England: Between June 2015 – his first full-time assignment as India captain – and January of 2021, Kohli has evolved into India's most successful Test captain, leading the team to 33 wins.
When Ravi Shastri first joined the Indian cricket team as its director back in the year 2014, Virat Kohli was a youngster whose batting graph was on an upward curve, but the former India all-rounder was quick to spot the captaincy acumen of the then India vice-captain. Later that year, as India toured Australia, it took a finger injury to MS Dhoni for the world to get a glimpse of Kohli the India captain in the first Test in Adelaide, before he took over entirely after the former India captain retired from Tests.
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Between June 2015 – his first full-time assignment as India captain – and January of 2021, Kohli has evolved into India's most successful Test captain, leading the team to 33 wins. Even though his contributions as India captain was conveniently sidelined in the euphoria of India's historic Test triumph last month, the fact remains that this is Kohli's team. From serving as director of the Indian team more than six years ago, to now into his second stint as head coach, Shastri spoke highly of Kohli, lauding what the 32-year-old has achieved as India captain.
“Just seeing the way he has evolved, you knew that there was an uncut diamond there when I took over in 2014, but just to see him evolve… It takes time, everything doesn’t happen in a hurry,” Shastri said on Star Sports show Cricket Live.
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“You got to have the ups, the downs, you know, you got to feel the heat, you got to have your successes and failures, to be able to get up and move on in life. I think he has handled that beautifully and I’m sure he will handle fatherhood as well in that similar manner.”
Shastri weighed in on the workload management of the Indian cricket team, suggesting a two-week-long break for their players post the IPL 2021. Ever since cricket resumed post the pandemic, players of the Indian team have been on the road, playing the IPL for two months in the UAE before travelling to Australia for another two-month long tour. Not to forget the duration of the bubbles they have been in. The head coach sees nothing wrong in a timely break ahead of a busy 2021, in which the team will tour England for a full-fledged tour and host the T20 World Cup.
"You know, this team takes, like I said, pride in performance. They take it one-step at a time. Every game is important, every format is important, and you look at it in that way and we’ve got the volume of players. You know, at the moment, the bench strength is there to... for you to accommodate them, across formats," Shastri added.
"So, I think the hunger will be there, you’ll have to perform game after game, but I do believe, you need a break as well, from the international arena. So, I think, hopefully, after this series. Yes, they go into the IPL, but that’s a shorter format, but then again, after the IPL, I think, a couple of weeks off is a must. With these quarantines, these bubbles, it is mentally very, very draining. You're a human at the end of it all."
