'Virat Kohli is like Vivian Richards' - Sanjay Manjrekar lauds Indian skipper for his captaincy

Indian cricket team is getting dominated by the England team in the first Test of the four-match series at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. While England players are winning hearts with their comprehensive and disciplined performance both with the bat and ball, Indian skipper Virat Kohli is also being massively hailed for his tactical decisions while rotating the bowlers on the field especially in the third innings.

The third innings saw a magical start for the home team as the spinner Ravi Ashwin scalped the wicket of opening batsman Rory Burns on the very first ball of the innings for a golden duck. With the wicket of Burns, Ashwin became the third spinner to take a wicket off the very first ball of an innings. He is the first spinner to do so in over 100 years.

Lauding Indian skipper Virat Kohli for handing the ball to Ashwin, renowned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar compared Kohli’s captaincy to West Indies legend Vivian Richards. He also hailed Virat for having confidence in his players and backing them during the game.

“If you saw Virat Kohli’s reaction when they got that wicket just before Lunch, it shows how this Team India thinks. Especially with Virat Kohli at the helm. Tactically, people have issues with his captaincy, but this is where Virat Kohli is like Vivian Richards, where they are always hopeful. And when a captain believes that you can still make a match out of this one from the current situation,” Sanjay Manjrekar said on ESPNcricinfo.

Joe Root’s England right on top

Joe Root, the England skipper, was the main player behind his team’s turnaround in the Chepauk Test. He has been in scintillating form of late in Test cricket right from the Sri Lankan tour. Batting first, Brits put up a total of 578 runs on the board on the back of a stunning double ton by the skipper.

In response to England’s innings, hosts somehow managed to score 337 runs as after initial troubles, Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar played sublime knocks of 91 and 85 runs respectively. The third innings saw England getting bundled out for 178 runs as spinner Ravi Ashwin went all guns blazing against the opponents’ batting line-up and picked a whopping six wickets.