Virat Kohli lauds the impact of Anil Kumble on his captaincy

It has been almost a year since both Anil Kumble and Virat Kohli came together to form perhaps one of the strongest partnerships between captain and coach. This is also evident in the manner in which Kohli has played in recent times and captained the side with Kumble having a considerable impact on his decision making as skipper as well. Speaking about the same, the incumbent Indian captain went ahead and said that Kumble had channeled his aggression into much better terms.

“To an extent, yes (I would say). I was working on those things already on a constant basis. I wanted to learn from my mistakes and evolve as a person. Anil Bhai coming into play channelled it much better in terms of his experience,” Kohli said.

“He was a very aggressive player in his head as well. But he knew when to use that aggression and how to channel it. So he has helped me in that aspect a little bit,” he added.

The India skipper also went ahead and added a few words about Kumble as a legend. “Apart from that, what he has really brought into the side is the mindset of taking wickets as bowlers. He was a spinner but used to think as a fast bowler, he was that aggressive with his thinking. That’s why he ended up taking the highest Test wickets (619) for India.

“The way he thought about getting batsmen out, the way he used to set them up. And the way he worked on his fitness and skills as well. So everyone takes a lot of inspiration from him,” gushed Kohli in praise of the 46-year-old Kumble.

“He has been a legend of Indian cricket and we are really glad to have him in the change room,” he concluded.

Also read – Irfan Pathan named skipper of Baroda for Vijay Hazare Trophy

Recently, Steve Smith has given his teammates a green signal to sledge Indian players if required. Speaking about this, Virat Kohli said as per the quotes on cricbuzz, “See, I am really good friends with them. I know them really well off the field. But I know where to draw the line of friendship as well. When you step onto the field, I could be playing against my real brother it does not matter. So it’s fine, if they had to criticise me, I would have been okay with it, it’s not something coming out of my mouth. So I have no control over it. I am pretty focused and aware of what I need to do as a player on the field and what my team needs to do to win Test matches and series. I don’t know the reason behind it, there might not be any reason, I am not here to speculate. But I can say I am really great friends with these guys off the field, we really get along well. On the field we are professional enough to realise that it’s a competition but off the field we are comfortable with each other.”

“I am pretty focused and aware of what I need to do as a player on the field and what my team needs to do to win Test matches and series. I don’t know the reason behind it, there might not be any reason, I am not here to speculate. But I can say I am really great friends with these guys off the field, we really get along well. On the field, we are professional enough to realise that it’s a competition but off the field, we are comfortable with each other.” concluded Virat Kohli.