File Pic
Internet Desk: Former Australian skipper Michael Clarke said that Virat Kohli is a brilliant player and his style of play is similar to the type of cricket which is taught to Australians from their childhood.
Speaking to NDTV, the 36-year-old said, “There is an Australian in Virat Kohli.”Talking about what makes Kohli aggressive on the field; Clarke said his hunger to win games makes him a wonderful player as he doesn’t want to take a step back.
“Virat is a wonderful player. He wants to win and doesn’t want to take a step back,” said the former Australian captain.
The Australian side will be touring India in the months of September and October where they will be playing 5 ODIs and 3 T20 games. Clarke also feels that it will be a tough job to defeat the hosts in their own backward.
“The Indian team right now is full of confidence and the upcoming tour for Australia is going to be tough. This tour will be a great challenge for Australia as India, at the moment, are playing very well.
“Obviously the Australian supporters expect their team to be best in the world. But, India are ticking all the right boxes under the captaincy of Virat Kohli.”
Referring to current team skipper Steve Smith, Clarke said that the former’s batting has led the nation to big heights and the team needs to continue the good form.
Asked about Kohli’s aggressive nature of play, Clarke said, “When I see Virat captaining on the field, I see the team winning. And if the team is winning you are doing plenty of things right.
“He wants to win and doesn’t want to take a step back. He knows how tough the next four months of cricket are. He is preparing his team for that.”
India will be touring South Africa in January, Australia in 2018 and England in 2019. “If India can beat South Africa, Australia and England at away conditions, there will be no doubt that India is the number one team in the world,” Clarke added.
Clarke mentioned that the aggressive approach in the game of cricket has been brought by former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly. Later on the aggressiveness was continued by Ms Dhoni, Anil Kumble and Virat Kohli which ius highly commendable.
Former Australian cricketer Michael Hussey had compared to Kohli to Ricky Ponting. Commenting on the comparison, Clarke said, “I have never played under Virat so cannot compare them. However, Virat would not want to be compared to anybody. He has his own style.”
Talking about the Australia pay dispute, Clarke said, “Steve Smith handled himself really well during the pay dispute as he did not indulge much and stayed away.”
He was also happy as the Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers Association came to a settlement and the agreement was important for the team before the start of the tour of Bangladesh.