Ravi Shastri talked about Indian team's captaincy transition from the MS Dhoni to Virat Kohli during his tenure as head coach of the Men in Blue. Shastri disclosed that he identified Kohli's leadership potential early on, seeing him as a rough diamond in need of polishing, and firmly believed Kohli was the perfect choice to lead India once Dhoni stepped down from the captaincy.
How India fared in Tests in Virat Kohli's reign?
Kohli, who is missing out from the ongoing Test series against England due to personal reasons, captained the team in 68 Test matches, winning 40 of them, thereby becoming India's most successful Test captain. He stepped down from the Test captaincy after India's 2-1 series defeat in South Africa during the 2021/22 season. Under his leadership, India achieved significant milestones, including their historic Test series victory in Australia in 2018/19 and reaching the final of the inaugural World Test Championship in 2021, where they were defeated by New Zealand in Southampton.
'It'll take time but watch, observe, be ready for the captaincy'
"There was a lot of individual brilliance but I wanted to see team brilliance. I wanted to win and to make Test cricket paramount and identified an uncut diamond in Virat Kohli. While (MS) Dhoni was my captain, my eye was on him (Kohli). I told him very early in my second month: 'It'll take time but watch, observe, be ready (for the captaincy)'," Shastri told Michael Atherton in a conversation for The Times.
Shastri, a member of India's triumphant 1983 ODI World Cup team, linked up with the Indian team in 2014 as a team director. He then assumed the role of head coach in 2017, continuing until the conclusion of the 2021 Men's T20 World Cup. Shastri praised Kohli's commitment to Test cricket, acknowledging his preparedness to confront the necessary challenges for achieving success in this format.
Kohli was prepared to do the hard yards: Shastri
"Kohli was fully engaged with Test cricket. He was passionate. He was prepared to do the hard yards and was prepared to play tough cricket, which fitted my way of thinking. When you play Australia or Pakistan you've got to have a 'no complaints', 'no excuses' attitude. We were on the same page and wanted a battery of fast bowlers. He was ready for a scrap. He wanted to play hard. We made it a free-for-all in the nets. You were allowed to bounce the shit out of anyone. He was the first guy to embrace it; he was quite prepared to look ugly in the nets and the mindset changed," Shastri concluded.
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