How Ravi Shastri has helped Virat Kohli become a better captain

Virat Kohli is undoubtedly one of the best batsmen in the world. He has scored runs everywhere in the world, against all the best bowling attacks. But, Kohli has taken time to get better as a captain since he became the Test skipper in 2015. The India captain said that head coach Ravi Shastri’s inputs have helped him become a better leader.

“Ever since 2014, I think he’s (Shastri) one person who’s given me honest feedback whenever things required to be altered. I remember we sat down (last year). I’d scored a Test century and a fifty in the same game in England, so he called me and he said, as far as batting is concerned, I’m not going to discuss anything with you now because you’ve done some something which I am proud of and everyone is proud of. But as a captain, I need to start thinking how to get the best out of this team and how to tactically be spot on. And that really hit me because I felt like, you know, there’s so much more to captaincy than you sometimes think,” Kohli told Star Sports.

India lost the Test series against England 1-4, but went on to register their first-ever Test series win in Australia, earlier this month. Kohli said that Shastri has never tried to change the person he his while trying to make him a better captain.

“Because he’s done so much commentary, and he’s seen the game so much and has played so much himself - just watching the game - he knows where the game is heading. So just get getting feedback from him constantly has been the biggest help for me, in terms of moulding my own personality into captaincy. He’s someone who has never tried to change me just to be able to fit into the captaincy mode,” Kohli said.

First Published: Jan 16, 2019 20:04 IST