Virat Kohli took over limited overs captaincy from MS Dhoni n 2017.
Kohli, on the other hand, led India to their maiden Test series win in Australia and on a prolonged reign as the no.1 Test side. There is a visible difference in the captaincy styles of both Dhoni and Kohli, but former India pacer Ajit Agarkar pinpointed to one specific difference.
Talking on a recent episode of Star Sports’ chat show Cricket Connected, Agarkar pointed out that Dhoni depended a lot on slow bowlers, while Kohli has a lot more faith in his fast bowlers.
Virat Kohli has possibly one of the most potent fast bowling attacks in the world comprising of lethal Jasprit Bumrah, experienced Ishant Sharma, and skillful Mohammad Shami, among many others.
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“The major difference I see is that MS Dhoni used to depend a lot on the spin bowlers to make his strategies. Virat Kohli, in a slight deviation, has shown more faith in fast bowlers,” Agarkar said.
“Because of that when India plays overseas Test matches, it has made a lot of difference to the results. The performance has been better and we have been able to compete more. Probably this was a stark difference because both had a different way of leading, but both got a lot of success,” he further said.
“Virat Kohli has been a captain for such a long time in all formats and we can see how good the results have been. The methods might be different but if you show faith in your players, then you get good results as a captain,” Agarkar added.
This faith in fast bowlers will come in handy for Virat Kohli when he leads India on the tour of Australia later this year with Steve Smith and David Warner laced Australian team waiting for revenge for the 2018-19 loss.