Gautam Gambhir heaps praise on Virat Kohli, reveals how he became India's most successful Test captain
Kohli became India's most successful Test captain with 40 wins and 11 draws and 17 losses in 68 matches. He achieved a win percentage of 58.82 in his seven-year tenure.
Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli, two Indian cricket stars whose paths have crossed again in the Team India setup, met for a BCCI-organized chat in which they discussed everything about cricket. Gambhir and Kohli, who have previously played together for Team India in various formats, will now share the dressing room once more, but this time as coach and player in the Indian team.
In an interview, Kohli elaborated on his journey as a young Test captain who replaced MS Dhoni, the most successful captain in Indian cricket history.
Kohli told Gambhir, "What excited me about Test cricket and when I was moving forward as captain was the challenge. We were making the transition when you guys made way for a younger team and Mahi bhai stepped down from Test captaincy. I was 25, so for me it was like ‘I’m here with a bunch of 24-25-year-old boys. How can we become household names?’ We sat down and thought, ‘I really need to plan this. It can’t happen by chance.'”
The head coach replied, “I can understand what you must have gone through. A 24-25-year-old guy took over Test captaincy and then the great thing you did was that you had a really strong bowling unit. Test matches are won by taking 20 wickets. Unless you have a strong bowling line-up, you won’t win. And that is what makes you the most successful Test captain of the country.”
When Dhoni missed the Adelaide Test of the 2014/25 Border-Gavaskar series due to a thumb injury, Kohli took charge of his first match as the team’s Test captain. After the series, he took over full-time after Dhoni stepped down as captain.
Kohli became India's most successful Test captain with 40 wins and 11 draws and 17 losses in 68 matches. He had a win percentage of 58.82 in his seven-year tenure.
"Credit goes to you, because as a batsman, it is very easy to have a strong 6-7 batsmen who put runs on the board, but the way you identified and most importantly, the way you came out on the field with fast bowlers. Imagine having players like Shami, Bumrah, Ishant, Umesh and then winning overseas."
"I remember you playing that innings in Adelaide. We were chasing 400; it was your first match as captain, and you still wanted to win that Test match. That's the mindset, that's the culture we want to bring in," Gambhir said.
