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Indian Cricket Coach Ravi Shastri says, "Virat Kohli reminds me of Imran Khan"

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Indian Cricket Coach Ravi Shastri says, "Virat Kohli reminds me of Imran Khan"
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Apr 2010
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8,245
Indian Cricket Coach Ravi Shastri says, "Virat Kohli reminds me of Imran Khan"
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KOLKATA: Heaping praise on skipper Virat Kohli and his recent exploits in South Africa, India cricket team coach Ravi Shastri has compared the mercurial player to Pakistan's World Cup winning captain Imran Khan.


"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," Shastri told Anandabazar Patrika.

Kohli, ranked No. 1 batsman in one-day internationals, was in imperious form against the Proteas becoming the first batsman ever to score 500 or more runs in a bilateral ODI series.

The dashing right-hander, rated as one of the finest in modern times, finished the series with 558 runs racking up three centuries, a record for an Indian batsman, and one fifty in six innings.

Kohli's six innings in the ODI series were - 112, 46*, 160 not out, 75, 36 and 129 not out. Imran led Pakistan to the 1992 World Cup and was arguably the best cricketer produced by Pakistan.

Asked about the similarities between Imran and Kohli, Shastri said the desire to always be on top and having an infectious energy level made him draw the comparison.

"Just the ability to always want to dominate, want to compete, irrespective of whatever conditions you get, believe that you can do it and 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."

"I think he was fantastic on the last trip. It was a tough trip," Shastri said on Kohli's leadership and performance in South Africa.
India lost the Test series 1-2 but came back strongly in the 50-over format, winning the six-match series 5-1. In the T20Is, India edged past the hosts 2-1.

"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.

"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," said Shastri who has played 80 Tests and 150 ODIs for India.

Shastri lashed out at former cricketers asking Kohli to cut down on his aggression on the field, saying they should allow him and his captain to go about their business.

"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. 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 also rated India's batting performance in the third Test at the Wanderers in Johannesburg as

"One of the most courageous and bravest batting performances ever."
India braved hostile batting conditions to win the game by 63 runs with batting salvos from Cheteshwar Pujara (50) and Kohli (54) in the first innings, then Ajinkya Rahane and (48) and Kohli (41) again in the second being the highlights.

"It has to go down as one of the most courageous and bravest batting performances ever," the 55-year-old opined.

"Not only in the history of Indian cricket, but in the history of the game. Absolutely no question about that because the conditions was such and with the kind of attack they had, it needed a lot of guts, courage, application, determination to do what they did. And above all, belief. And there is a reason why I give them credit.

"On that track, everyone was surprised that we batted first. But the end result shows we were right," the former all-rounder added.
The South Africa sojourn, Shastri said, was the toughest of all, owing to the surfaces the tourists played on and still fought hard.

"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. And on those tracks, to perform the way they did, I think, was simply outstanding," Shastri said.


Shastri signed off by priding that they don't shy away from playing in any condition and never whine.

"I have always said that we don't want a team that would complain about the tracks. We will play on whatever is on offer. And we will try and get the right combination to counter that."


Get latest news & live updates on the go on your pc with News App. Download The Times of India news app for your device. Read more Sports news in English and other languages.

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Indian Cricket Coach Ravi Shastri says, "Virat Kohli reminds me of Imran Khan"
Join Date
Apr 2010
Posts
8,245
Indian Cricket Coach Ravi Shastri says, "Virat Kohli reminds me of Imran Khan"
4-1.jpg


KOLKATA: Heaping praise on skipper Virat Kohli and his recent exploits in South Africa, India cricket team coach Ravi Shastri has compared the mercurial player to Pakistan's World Cup winning captain Imran Khan.


"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," Shastri told Anandabazar Patrika.

Kohli, ranked No. 1 batsman in one-day internationals, was in imperious form against the Proteas becoming the first batsman ever to score 500 or more runs in a bilateral ODI series.

The dashing right-hander, rated as one of the finest in modern times, finished the series with 558 runs racking up three centuries, a record for an Indian batsman, and one fifty in six innings.

Kohli's six innings in the ODI series were - 112, 46*, 160 not out, 75, 36 and 129 not out. Imran led Pakistan to the 1992 World Cup and was arguably the best cricketer produced by Pakistan.

Asked about the similarities between Imran and Kohli, Shastri said the desire to always be on top and having an infectious energy level made him draw the comparison.

"Just the ability to always want to dominate, want to compete, irrespective of whatever conditions you get, believe that you can do it and 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."

"I think he was fantastic on the last trip. It was a tough trip," Shastri said on Kohli's leadership and performance in South Africa.
India lost the Test series 1-2 but came back strongly in the 50-over format, winning the six-match series 5-1. In the T20Is, India edged past the hosts 2-1.

"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.

"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," said Shastri who has played 80 Tests and 150 ODIs for India.

Shastri lashed out at former cricketers asking Kohli to cut down on his aggression on the field, saying they should allow him and his captain to go about their business.

"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. 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 also rated India's batting performance in the third Test at the Wanderers in Johannesburg as

"One of the most courageous and bravest batting performances ever."
India braved hostile batting conditions to win the game by 63 runs with batting salvos from Cheteshwar Pujara (50) and Kohli (54) in the first innings, then Ajinkya Rahane and (48) and Kohli (41) again in the second being the highlights.

"It has to go down as one of the most courageous and bravest batting performances ever," the 55-year-old opined.

"Not only in the history of Indian cricket, but in the history of the game. Absolutely no question about that because the conditions was such and with the kind of attack they had, it needed a lot of guts, courage, application, determination to do what they did. And above all, belief. And there is a reason why I give them credit.

"On that track, everyone was surprised that we batted first. But the end result shows we were right," the former all-rounder added.
The South Africa sojourn, Shastri said, was the toughest of all, owing to the surfaces the tourists played on and still fought hard.

"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. And on those tracks, to perform the way they did, I think, was simply outstanding," Shastri said.


Shastri signed off by priding that they don't shy away from playing in any condition and never whine.

"I have always said that we don't want a team that would complain about the tracks. We will play on whatever is on offer. And we will try and get the right combination to counter that."


Get latest news & live updates on the go on your pc with News App. Download The Times of India news app for your device. Read more Sports news in English and other languages.

Source
Anushka did not like Shashtri's comment......
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Great words, But Phatwaris will extract something stupid from it too.
 
Kohli can learn a lot from the likes of imran , border, Steve ,he has just started as a capital
 
Yes in a shorter darker uglier lack of charisma head shaking indian sort of way :rofl:
 
Virat Kohli is one of the best batsman. His overall body language, mentality and attitude are quite up to the mark and this reflects in the indian cricket team's performance. Another person would be MS Dhoni.

Pakistan cricketers, management etc. SHOULD learn something. Furthermore, to be brutally honest, it is quite shameful that the Pakistani nation has not been able to produce the likes of Kohli or Dhoni in recent times. The Pakstani cricket team's body language and whatnot does not reflect any class whatsoever...barring Misbah ul Haq and few other of course.
 
Kohli's a class player of his era, no doubt about it but i'm not sure he's as great as Tendulker.
 
Not agreed, Kohli never faced and never will that perilous condition which Tendulker faced in his entire career.

You can only play what is presented to you as opposition. But where Virat kohli stands out is in his temparent and planning when it comes to chases. Tendulkar, although great, played well when batting first with no pressure of playing according to the target. Batting first, he would play to his personal milestones first but that would in a way help India set the target. But he would inevitably fail when pressure of scoreboard dictated the momentum of chase, so in many cases india would loose even after he scored a century chasing.

Virat kohli is more a team player, so you would see him loosing wicket when batting first trying to change momentum upwards way too much to put India in a great position. But in chases he is magical, more like a robot than human. He is more attuned to team's needs so can change momentum at will and more often than not be there at the end when India reaches the target. I feel this why he has most number of centuries(19) chasing than anyone else in the world. I would rate kohli much higher than SRT.

Kohli is more inspirational than Tendulkar given his influence when it comes to fitness and mental attitude of the team. He inspires his team to be number one in all aspects of the game. It is because of him and his team that BCCI is able to rake in as much mulah as they do every year. Imagine if India was the same mediocre team of SRT with no collective passion to be number one, it wouldn't had so much following that they do now. This aspect is more important than individual performances. This made Indian team a force to reckon with in current world cricket.
 
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You can only play what is presented to you as opposition. But where Virat kohli stands out is in his temparent and planning when it comes to chases. Tendulkar, although great, played well when batting first with no pressure of playing according to the target. Batting first, he would play to his personal milestones first but that would in a way help India set the target. But he would inevitably fail when pressure of scoreboard dictated the momentum of chase, so in many cases india would loose even after he scored a century chasing.

Virat kohli is more a team player, so you would see him loosing wicket when batting first trying to change momentum upwards way too much to put India in a great position. But in chases he is magical, more like a robot than human. He is more attuned to team's needs so can change momentum at will and more often than not be there at the end when India reaches the target. I feel this why he has most number of centuries(19) chasing than anyone else in the world. I would rate kohli much higher than SRT.

Kohli is more inspirational than Tendulkar given his influence when it comes to fitness and mental attitude of the team. He inspires his team to be number one in all aspects of the game. It is because of him and his team that BCCI is able to rake as much mulah as they do every year. Imagine if India was the same mediocre team of SRT with no collective passion to be number one, it wouldn't had so much following that they do now. This aspect is more important than individual performances. This made Indian team a force to reckon with in current world cricket.

Agreed on all your points, but i'm talking about something different.

Kohli is playing in the era where majority pitches are batting friendly and supporting to have a big scoring matches, whereas Tendulker played in the time where there was no conecpt of supporting pitches (before mid 2000s).

Tendulker faced one heck of a nightmare bowling attack in his career which consist of Waqar, Wasim, Shoaib, Mcgrath, Lee, Donald, Pollock, Ambros, Walsh etc, Whereas Kohli yet to face a world class bowler.
 
Agreed on all your points, but i'm talking about something different.

Kohli is playing in the era where majority pitches are batting friendly and supporting to have a big scoring matches, whereas Tendulker played in the time where there was no conecpt of supporting pitches (before mid 2000s).

Tendulker faced one heck of a nightmare bowling attack in his career which consist of Waqar, Wasim, Shoaib, Mcgrath, Lee, Donald, Pollock, Ambros, Walsh etc, Whereas Kohli yet to face a world class bowler.

Like i said, he can only play the opposition he is presented with. Even if we go by your premise that the batting friendly pitches are presented how many other current players have scored as many centuries as he did. How many had as much influence as he has in world cricket. His batting averages on all three formats is unprecedented that too after so many matches.

We can only compare him to present generation, comparing him to Tendulkar or to any other generation batsman is rather unfair. He is in my opinion viv richards of this generation, a class apart.
 
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