AUS v IND 2018-19: Virat Kohli would be a champion in any era of the game, says Ian Chappell 

Kohli's risk-free cricket in all three formats impresses Chappell the most.

He has been inspirational for his team | Getty

Ian Chappell showered huge praise on Virat Kohli saying that Indian Captain's success across all formats is a result of great hunger to do well for the country and it certainly pleases him as well. 

Virat scored an outstanding ton at Perth and has totalled 282 runs across his seven innings other than showing excellent tactical acumen in the field in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy down under. 

"He is a very good player. It doesn't matter where I place him because a champion in one era would be a champion in any other era," Ian Chappell told TOI, "What pleases me most is that he has been successful in all three formats by playing traditional cricket shots, like Viv Richards used to do."

The former Australian skipper also talked about Cheteshwar Pujara, who sits comfortably as the leading run-getter of the series with 521 runs at 74.43 including three outstanding hundreds in Adelaide, Melbourne and now, Sydney. 

"He(Pujara) is a good player. The only problem is he doesn't think enough about scoring runs. At times it looks to me that he is batting in the nets - just happy to play out deliveries. He shouldn't get bogged down as much as he does," said the ever stubborn Chappell.

The great man then dug deep into India's cricketing structure and found major reasons there why the tourists have been dominant against Australia despite playing away from their home shores. 

"India had a couple of advantages. First, they have got a window for IPL. So your guys are still playing a lot of first-class cricket. India is not in a position where they are playing a Test series like this and if their batsmen are not making runs, they don't have to pick a replacement from a T20 competition," Chappell explained. 

"A window for IPL also means India are not playing Test cricket during that period, nor do their players go around playing other T20 competitions because they are so well paid in the IPL. The other factor is that India has a huge population, so the talent pool is much larger than Australia's."

"A lot of factors have combined to lead us(Australia) where we are today. Technical issues, lack of systematic coaching, focus on shorter formats and the adverse effects of IPL and BBL have all played a part," he signed off. 

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 07 Jan, 2019

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