Adelaide: India captain Virat Kohli backed Wednesday his deputy Ajinkya Rahane to ‘do a tremendous job’ in leading the side once he goes on paternity leave. Kohli will leave after the first Test against Australia. He described the relationship between him and Ajinkya Rahane as one built on ‘trust and mutual respect’. Rahane will captain India in three Tests after Kohli leaves.
“Well, first we had a lot of mutual understanding and respect over the years. We have had some great partnerships batting together which is based on trust and understanding on what the team needs,” Kohli said. He was answering questions related to Rahane leading the team.
“Jinks (Rahane) has done a tremendous job in the two practice games, the tour games that have happened. He seems very composed and he knows the strengths of our team. He also knows how to handle pressure,” added Kohli.
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The Indian captain made it clear that Rahane will certainly follow the template set by him. There is no ambiguity between both of them in this regard.
“…We already know the template that we play with and how we want to go about things. So we are absolutely on the same page. I am sure he will do a tremendous job in my absence as well,” Kohli seemed very confident.
As of now, Kohli is keen on setting up the base for Rahane to consolidate once he leaves. “…The focus remains till the time I am here is to be able to provide, you know, captaincy and leadership. Also I would like to perform to the best of my abilities as a player. From then on, I am pretty confident that Jinks will do a tremendous job,” asserted Kohli.
The Indian captain declared himself a ‘representation of new India’, forever ready to take up challenges with optimism. He, was responding to former Australian skipper Greg Chappell’s comment. The latter has called Kohli ‘the most Australian non-Australian cricketer of all time’.
Kohli was asked about his aggressive brand of cricket coupled with a fighting attitude. It is a mindset Chappell found similar to the mindset of his countrymen.
“I would like to say that I have always been myself,” Kohli said. The way my personality and character is, I am the representation of new India. For me, that’s how I look at it,” Kohli asserted.
“In my mind, it’s not (about) being compared to the Australian mindset as such. It is how we have started to stand up as the Indian cricket team. My personality has been like this from day one” he added.