What’s the story?
Newly-appointed Indian limited-overs captain Virat Kohli revealed that the best cricketing advice that he has got so far came from his hero Sachin Tendulkar. MS Dhoni’s decision to step down as limited-overs captain has meant the 28-year-old has been appointed as captain of the Indian team across all formats.
Kohli, who led the U-19 side to victory in the 2008 U-19 World Cup will now captain India in all formats beginning from the ODI series against England, which begins on January 15 at Pune. Speaking to Mandira Bedi during a talk show, Kohli spoke about the advice he got from Sachin.
"When I approached him about my game, the advice I got from was to believe in your own game and believe in the way you want to prepare and do not follow someone and that helped and from that onwards, I was really comfortable,” the Indian captain said.
In case you didn’t know...
Ever since he was given the Indian limited-overs captaincy, Virat Kohli has had a mixed bag off the field. While he was appointed brand ambassador of Gionee, following in the footsteps of Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt, he was removed from his post as brand ambassaor of Adidas as the sportswear manufacturing giant chose against renewing his contract.
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The heart of the matter
The 28-year-old had a year to remember in 2016 as he scored over 2,500 runs, finished as the leading run-scorer in the calendar year and almost broke Rahul Dravid’s record of most runs in a calendar year by an Indian batsman.
One of the reasons why he has been at home across all formats has been his incredible ability to adapt and change gears depending on the situation and format. From being a player who doesn’t hit the ball in the air as a conscious effort in Tests to one that clears the ropes with ease, Kohli has certainly created his own unique style and followed Tendulkar’s advice.
Speaking about being given the captaincy across all formats, Kohli admitted that it was an honour that he was thought of as worthy of taking over from MS Dhoni. While he admitted that captaincy didn’t come as a surprise, he described the pressure as fun and not stressful.
What next?
After captaining the Indian team to a 4-0 series win over England in the Test series, Virat Kohli will hope to continue his stellar run in the shorter formats in the ODI series against England that begins on January 15. It will be interesting to see how the Indian team perform under Kohli’s leadership in the shorter formats.
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Sportskeeda’s take
It certainly looks as though Kohli has taken Tendulkar’s advice to heart as he has created a name of himself with his unique style of batting, one which brought him over 2,500 runs in 2016 and established him as one of the stars of the modern game across all formats.
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