Ravi Shastri with MS Dhoni & Virat Kohli, says different personalities but highly effective

Two-time champions India are on a roll at ICC World Cup 2019. Led by Virat Kohli, the Men in Blue have marched on without dropping a game so far and have 11 points from six games with five wins and one washout. On Thursday, they scripted their most comprehensive win by thrashing the West Indies by 125 runs at Old Trafford, where they had their previous biggest win over Pakistan (89 runs) on June 16. India need one point now to confirm their semi-final spot and will look to win the three remaining games versus England, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

India’s success has been determined by their team effort. While the batsmen won them games against Australia and Pakistan, it was the bowlers who rose to the occasion against Afghanistan and the West Indies. The way Kohli’s bowlers defended a low total of 224 against Afghanistan, it was phenomenal. In batting Rohit Sharma has led the lot with two centuries while in bowling, Mohammed Shami has looked in a hurry to make up for the lost time with two consecutive four-wicket hauls.

Kohli has impressed with the batting as well as captaincy

Kohli’s captaincy has been as impressive as his batting. The 30-year-old has conducted himself well on the field barring one occasion when he showed his dissent over umpiring while with the bat, he has slammed four consecutive half-centuries in the tournament. He could certainly have converted some of those into three figures and is due for a big one now.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni has also played a significant role. Although his batting against Afghanistan came under the scanner, he showed he could accelerate towards the end to make up for his slow batting against the West Indies by making 56 not out off 61 balls. Dhoni’s keeping has been as impressive as was seen with his stumping and catching. The 37-year-old is playing his final World Cup and to win the title, he has a big role to play.

India’s head coach Ravi Shastri on Friday posted a picture of Kohli with Dhoni along with himself and the caption said: “Different personalities. Both champions and mighty effective.”

Here is Ravi Shastri’s post for the two Indian leaders:

Different personalities. Both champions and mighty effective – @imVkohli @msdhoni 🇮🇳 🙏#CWC2019 pic.twitter.com/cyBCM39wtT

— Ravi Shastri (@RaviShastriOfc) June 28, 2019

The captaincy styles of Dhoni and Kohli have been vastly different from each other but at the end of the day, both have done the job exceedingly well.