Veteran Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik said Indian stars like Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya are very aggressive in their own fashion but it is captain Virat Kohli who is at the forefront with his body language and leads the national side from the front.
He further said Kohli’s aggressive and competitive nature is not only have a positive effect on the Indian cricket team but it even rubs off on his teammates while saying the likes of Rohit, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik also wear their heart on their sleeves and they hate losing.
Karthik said on Sky Sports: “We speak a lot about Kohli because of his antiques, his body language, but there are quite a few intense characters there. Hardik Pandya, you see he’ll be chirping all the way, he is somebody who just doesn’t want to let go.”
He further added, “You see a Rohit Sharma, he’s a very quiet guy but plays with so much aggression. Very aggressive but might not show it with his body language but he wants to win everything.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar… you go speak to him and he is somebody who can’t take a loss very well. So you’ve got all these characters. Kohli is at the forefront with his body language, he’s obviously the captain who leads from the front.”
The veteran cricketer also hailed Team India’s fighting spirit, saying the current team led by Kohli has the confidence that they can win from possibly any situation and they did it in the first ODI against England.
Chasing 318, England were at 135/0 in the 15th over with Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow hitting the Indian bowlers all over the stadium, but the hosts made a spirited fightback and picked up 10 wickets for less than 120 runs to win the first ODI by 66 runs on March 23 in Pune.
Karthik said of the victory, “If you remember, Virat Kohli said at the toss. If there’s one thing he wants to do, it’s to try and win the first game and not always come back in a series. That’s exactly what he’s done. I think this Indian team believes it can win from any situation. 14.2 overs, 135 for no loss, and from there just to get them all out in the next 116 runs takes a special effort.”
He signed off, “Out of the 10 wickets, nine fell to fast bowlers so there must be something they must be doing right because England couldn’t get many wickets in the middle but India kept chipping away.”
