Ravi Shastri believes Virat Kohli would have learnt a lot from South Africa tour

Kohli led India to limited-over series wins in South Africa.

Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri | GETTY

No one would have expected Team India to crush South Africa so badly in the limited-over series.

Even though the hosts lost their key players because of injury, they didn't possess any threat. Indian skipper Virat Kohli, after the Test series defeat, led India to truimph in the limited overs series.

India's head coach Ravi Shastri thinks this tour has taught many things to Virat. “As captain he would have learnt heck of a lot because this was a tough tour, make no mistake about it,” he is quoted as saying by India Today

Shastri considers India did well to beat a strong South African. “I’ve been going to South Africa since 1992, you tell me one South African team which is not a strong team? And when you look at their attack now, it’s as good as any in the world especially in those conditions,” he said.

Lauding Kohli, Shastri said, “Virat Kohli leads from the front."

India were not up to their best cricket in whites, but their fight back in ODI and T20I series showed Kohli's character as a captain. “He is a tough guy in the mind and that makes a huge difference because it spreads amongst his teammates as well. And we knew even after losing 2 Tests that we weren’t far behind. People might say anything, they might write anything but we give two hoots.”

Shastri seems to be impressed with Kohli's 'never say die' attitude. “The captain not for one minute didn’t believe India wouldn’t win (the Johannesburg Test). That was the difference. Even at 120 for 1 he believed that India could win. Even when they came in at tea time he was very clear that “we are winning this Test match”. They (South Africa) were three down at that time. When you have that kind of self-belief, as I said it’s like a disease which spreads among the other players,” he added.

 
 

By Sihyeu Singh - 03 Mar, 2018

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