Virat Kohli is ‘a work-in-progress as a captain’: Clive Lloyd

Virat Kohli played a magical knock in the first Test against England at the Edgbaston. Image Source: twitter

XtraTime Web Desk: Legendary Windies captain Clive Lloyd feels Virat Kohli is an exceptional batsman, but is still a “work in progress” as a captain.

Lloyd famously led the legendary Windies sides in the 1970s and 80s. He was in attendance at Lord’s during the ongoing second Test between England and India, and watched the visitors concede a 250-run lead at stumps by the third day.




He said Kohli was an aggressive captain, and that was good so long as he toed the line. “Virat is still a work in progress and it will take us some time to take a final call on his captaincy,” Lloyd told.

“But yes, he has shown positive signs. Yes, he is aggressive, but as long as he doesn’t cross the line, it’s fine by me. Aggression, after all, is not a bad thing.”




He reminisced about the Indian captains he had played against. “When I was playing, I had seen five different Indian captains: Tiger Pataudi, Ajit Wadekar, Bishan Bedi, Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev. They had their own distinctive styles. I found Bedi quite good,” he said.




“In recent times, it has to be Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni. Dhoni was such a fantastic captain. He was quite inspirational, a good tactician and led the team with a lot of authority. I liked his style of captaincy.”

Lloyd, however, had no doubts regarding Kohli’s ability as a batsman – he scored 200 runs in India’s 31-run loss in Edgbaston, and rose to No.1 in the MRF Tyres ICC Rankings for Test Batsmen.




“There’s no doubt about the fact that Kohli is an exceptional batsman,” said Lloyd. “He is doing a few great things for his country and if you ask me whether he would have made my side, I would say yes. In fact, Kohli would make a number of great sides across generations.”




Asked if Jimmy Anderson would have made it into his Windies sides as well, Lloyd said: “Oh yes, why not? He is a terrific swing bowler and right up there with the best in the business. There’s a reason why he has got a such a huge number of wickets and I have always enjoyed watching him.”