India head coach Ravi Shastri has compared the leadership qualities of skipper Virat Kohli to that of the legendary former Pakistan captain Imran Khan.
Khan led Pakistan to their only ICC World Cup title in 1992 and Shastri believes Kohli possesses the same desire to lead by example.
“It’s still early days for Virat. He is still very very young. But he is already there among the very best. He wants to lead by example. He reminds me a lot of Imran. He is still very young but he has got lot of qualities that Imran had when it came to leading a side. Which is great,” the India coach told Kolkata publication Anandabazar Patrika.
“Just the ability to always want to dominate, want to compete, irrespective of whatever conditions you get, believe that you can do it. When you have that kind of quality it spreads among the other players as well. And that was very similar to the way Imran led,” Shastri added.
Kohli had a remarkable tour of South Africa with the bat, scoring a ton in the Tests and three in the ODIs to finish with a staggering 871 runs in total. Shastri described Kohli’s heroics on the tour as an unbelievable achievement.
Heaping praise on Kohli, Shastri said: “I think he was fantastic on the last trip. It was a tough trip. When you are the leading batsman in the side plus the captain, plus the conditions you get, plus the side that you are playing which is formidable, you need to be on top of your game.”
Imran Khan had famously led Pakistan to the 1992 World Cup crown.
“Mentally and physically. And he did just that. For someone to score 870-plus score on a single tour in two months, is an unbelievable achievement. Really unbelievable achievement.”
While there has been no denying the batting genius of the India superstar, his over-the-top aggression on the field has invited its fair share of criticism. Shastri, though, has a simple message for the critics.
“My only advice to them is to mind their own business. I will keep it very simple. Whoever is saying that, mind your own business. Let us get on with our job. I think he is absolutely fine. If there was a problem, the umpires are there,” he said.
“The match-referee is there to sort it out. What are they there for? He is hardly been called by the match-referee for going over the top in his career. So where is the problem?” Shastri added.
Highlighting the differences in South Africa’s pitches for the series against India and the ongoing one against Australia, Shastri said his men had been outstanding in the face of a tough test.
“It is one of the toughest tours and if you look at the pitches that were on offer to us, it is chalk and cheese when you look at the track that has been given against Australia. When you look at the track now in Durban and looked at the tracks we played on, they look like chalk and cheese,” he explained.
Australia eventually beat South Africa by 118 runs in the first Test at Durban to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series.
