Last year on tour of West Indies, Vivian Richards said he admired Virat Kohli’s aggression and congratulated him. (Source: File)
Virat Kohli didn’t have a great run following the double hundred against Bangladesh in the one-off Test. He was caught out time and again for his drives away from the body and then picked up an injury against Australia. But he has looked better with time scoring 111* against West Indies in an ODI and in the on-going series against Sri Lanka, he scored his 17th Test in Galle. The number of plaudits for the India skipper continue to rise as a leader and as a batsman with the latest being Sri Lanka’s legendary former batsman Arvinda de Silva.
The former right handed batsman has compared Kohli to another legend of the game in West Indies’ Viv Richards. “It’s the way he approaches his game, and also his arrogance and confidence. I think he reminds me a lot of some of the past greats like Viv (Richards). The way he took on the mighty Australians in Australia was something very special. Like Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and then Sachin Tendulkar, who all changed the complexion of Indian cricket, Kohli has it in him to take Indian cricket to a different level,” he said in an interview to Times of India on the sidelines of the second Test which India won by an innings and 53 runs to take an unassailable 2-0 series lead.
Incidentally, 20 years back, Sri Lanka recorded the highest ever Test total (952) against India, in the same week that they failed to push India to a second bat in Colombo. The sheer contrast in performances and dip in Sri Lankan cricket has disappointed Arvinda but he maintains that quick chopping and changing is not the solution. “The SLC needs to have a proper plan and start developing these players and give them more exposure. We need to develop some bowlers who can go through the opposition batting. It is very sad to see our team not winning but I think we need to seriously sit down and formulate a plan so as to take cricket in the right direction.”
“We need to have a long-term plan. You cannot entertain chopping and changing too much after every series loss. We must give them a decent run and groom players that have potential for the future. Giving them confidence is very important which is lacking at the moment,” he stated.
He also hoped Sri Lankan players can adapt to the highest level of cricket quickly after moving up from first class. “They will adjust to Test cricket once they get a bit of experience. Someone like Niroshan Dickwella who plays aggressive cricket has to continue in that fashion, and they’ll learn through their mistakes. You have to allow them to play their game and learn quickly. Let’s hope it happens faster than we anticipate,” he clarified.
