'Everyone wanted a very aggressive captain at first' - Madan Lal on people questioning Virat Kohli's aggression

Virat Kohli’s aggression on the field has been one of his biggest strengths. His on-field demeanour has rubbed the people right and the wrong equally. While a lot of them have welcomed the fiesty in-your-face attitude of the Indian captain, others have called for restraining.

The Indian captain was once again in the news for giving a  fiery sendoff to Kane Williamson in the first innings of the Christchurch. Kohli was asked about that during the press conference, where he and the journalist, post which the Indian captain got engaged in a verbal volley with the former.

Former Indian cricketer and the current head of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) loves Kohli’s aggression and he feels there is absolutely no reason why the Indian captain should mellow down.

Madan Lal said that earlier people used to say that they need an aggressive captain, and now when they have an aggressive captain, they want Kohli to strop his ‘aggressive streak’.

Madan Lal does not want Virat Kohli to mellow down

 “I don’t understand why people in India are asking him to mellow down. First, everyone wanted a very aggressive captain and now you want Kohli to stop his aggressive streak. I love the way he is on the field,” Madan Lal told the Times of India.

He added: “Earlier, people used to say that Indians are not aggressive; now that we’ve become aggressive people question that and ask why we are so aggressive. I enjoy Kohli’s aggression; we need a captain like him,”

Besides his aggressive demeanour, Kohli also came under scrutiny for a rare blip in form. The Indian captain had a forgettable ODI and Test series, where he could not get past the 50-run-mark in seven innings. His exploits in the Test series (38 runs in 2 games) revoked horrors of the 2014 tour of England.

But, Madan Lal is not perturbed about Kohli’s form. He believes that it is a rare rough patch, something the Indian captain will overcome eventually.

“He was out of form. You can say it was a loss of confidence. That (series against New Zealand) doesn’t take anything away from him. He is still the world’s best player. At times, technical flaws come in and you then try harder and harder but still you don’t come out of it. It happens to the best of players,” Lal added.