London: Former England captain Nasser Hussain said that Indian skipper Virat Kohli is the right man at the right time to lead a formidable Indian team. He also said that Kohli represents the idea of a modern-day India which won’t be pushed around.
“Virat Kohli is the right man at the right time to lead this formidable India side. His players, in particular the bowlers, want an aggressive captain. They want Kohli stirring things up, as he did so effectively in that brilliant second Test at Lord’s,” wrote Hussain in his column for Daily Mail.
“What Kohli in particular represents is modern-day India, the one that won’t be pushed around. Even though umpires might like to remind him occasionally that he doesn’t run the game. This India are not a side who will be bullied, as perhaps previous generations have been. They wouldn’t allow themselves to be bullied by Aussie players or crowds – when Tim Paine said ‘Wait until we get you to the Gabba’, it just spurred them on,” added Hussain.
He believes that Kohli is setting the tone with his aggression for India to win the Test series. India haven’t won a Test series in England since winning 1-0 under Rahul Dravid’s captaincy in 2007.
“Jasprit Bumrah has always seemed to me a quiet and reserved character off the field, but look at the way he attacked and went after Jimmy Anderson on that third evening. We saw India winning that way in Australia when Kohli went home to be at the birth of his first child after the first Test. They won then with Ajinkya Rahane in charge but it was Kohli who set the tone for that famous series victory and he’s doing it again now.”
Hussain reflected on how Kohli’s aggression works. “Kohli’s aggression is aimed at winding up the opposition and he gets under the skin of every team he plays against. I’m sure most don’t particularly like playing against him and English supporters won’t particularly like him but he won’t care a jot about that.”
India is leading the five-match Test series against England 1-0. The third Test between the two teams begins at Headingley, Leeds on Wednesday.