Kohli's aggression and leadership has been great for India: Michael Clarke

Former Australian captain Michael Clarke has heaped praise for the Indian skipper Virat Kohli. He said that Kohli’s aggression and leadership has had a very positive effect on the team. He also said that Australia needs to be at their best, if they are to beat India at home. The 5-match ODI series starts on 17th September in Chennai. 

India had an outstanding run during the home season, and they have beaten England, New Zealand and Australia at home, apart from reaching the Champions Trophy finals in England and beating West Indies and Sri Lanka at their own backyard.

Clarke lauds Kohli’s leadership

“He [Kohli] has been phenomenal in all three formats, to be honest. But ODI statistically has really been a standout. His leadership has been great for Indian cricket. He is showing aggression and the team is following him,” Clarke told “Sports Tak” Youtube channel.

He added: “As a captain, you want to lead from the front on the field and make sure you are scoring runs. At the moment, Virat is certainly doing that. He is showing every batsman in the team what is required to help the team get back to being number one in the world in the ODI format.”

Clarke’s warning to Australia

Clarke also added that Australia didn’t had a good time in whites, especially in the last four months. Steve Smith and his men lost to India in the Test series by a 1-2 margin, and were beaten by Bangladesh for the first time in Test history, during their 2-match Test series. Australia lost the 1st Test to the Tigers by 20 runs but came back just in time to level the series in Chittagong.

“It is going to be a great series. Everytime Australia plays India, it’s very competitive. This Australian team though needs to find some momentum. They have not played as well as they would have liked over the past four months in Test cricket. ODI cricket though has been Australia’s strength,”