Former India captain Virat Kohli has played a key role in changing Indian cricket during his leadership period. Although, the team did not win an ICC silverware, India evolved into one of the greatest Test sides in cricket history, drawing comparisons to the Windies of the 70s and 80s and the invincible Australian side under Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting. And former South African captain Faf du Plessis was effusive in his praise for Kohli, the leader, crediting him from bringing a huge change in Indian cricket.
Kohli, who resigned from Test captaincy earlier in January, ended his tenure as the fourth-most successful skipper in Test history, registering 40 wins as as a captain in 68 games, which also includes 11 draws. And stands third in terms of win percentage (50%) among all 28 Test captains who have at least led a team in 40 or more matches.
Faf admitted that during his tenure as an international cricketer and leading the South African side, he witnessed the change and admitted that he had never seen an Indian team like that before.
“Virat is not just for RCB but also for international game. He is one of the most respected leaders of the game. His performance as a cricket player has been probably one of the greatest. So huge respect for what he has done with the bat in his hand, but also captaincy perspective,” he said during the RCB Unbox event on Saturday where he was named as the new captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) franchise for the 2022 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
{{/usCountry}}“Virat is not just for RCB but also for international game. He is one of the most respected leaders of the game. His performance as a cricket player has been probably one of the greatest. So huge respect for what he has done with the bat in his hand, but also captaincy perspective,” he said during the RCB Unbox event on Saturday where he was named as the new captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) franchise for the 2022 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
{{/usCountry}}“He has changed Indian cricket. I have seen that happen over time. Playing against India for so long, I could see that shift, his leadership footprint has brought in the Indian team -- a competitive, fit Indian team that was fighting fire with fire as no Indian team ever did before,” he added.
Faf has led South Africa in 8 international matches against a Kohli-led Indian side - 6 in Tests and remaining two in ODIs. India won six matches - four Tests and two ODIs - and lost the remaining two Tests.
"He's got an extremely strong leadership style and that rubs off obviously on players underneath him and that is something that we would still need. Apart from Kohli, the team has players like Glen Maxwell and Dinesh Karthik, who have captaincy expertise in franchise cricket," he added.