Indian captain Virat Kohli might have had a tough time on the field in recent time but that couldn’t take away the right to be get applauded by the South African cricket legend Jonty Rhodes.
The dashing right-hander had a really tough New Zealand tour, as India whitewashed by the hosts in both ODI and Test series after winning the T20I series last month and one of the major reasons was captain’s poor form with the bat, believed many including former cricketers.
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Well, that was a tough phase for Kohli and passed it but still, the 30-year-old is a legend of the modern era and Rhodes has yet again showered rich praise on the world-class batsman, calling him the most powerful figure in the Indian cricket team being an “overall package”.
He was also highly impressed with two other Indian cricketers and they are Jasprit Bumrah – whose progress and performances he has seen closely while working with the Mumbai Indians in the IPL and Suresh Raina – whom he lauded as one of the finest fielders in world cricket once again.
Rhodes told Times of India, “I feel the most powerful player in the Indian cricket team is Virat Kohli. He has been consistent with his performance and is an overall package. I also really appreciate the performance of Bumrah and Suresh Raina. The entire Indian cricket team has a lot of potential in it.”
The South Africa great is a famous figure among Indian cricket fans like other national cricketers especially because of spending plenty of time in India whether being involved in a cricket-related assignment or not, he took every opportunity for the count.
He has already explored different parts of India and even he was so enamored with Indian culture that he just named his daughter India. Rhodes added, “I was so overwhelmed that I named my daughter India and I spend nearly 150 days in a year here. Just come with an open mind and embrace what you see.”
Rhodes has also recently revealed what inspired him to take up the role of the Kings XI Punjab’s fielding coach in the IPL 2020, and it was the chance of working with Anil Kumble, KXIP head coach.
He signed off by saying: “I did not approach KXIP, I got a call. Because it was Anil Kumble and he was in charge, I quite happily said yes. I really like the way he works. He is a thinking man's cricketer. He is someone who has played top-level cricket, but with a real brain around, away from cricket too. And I think you need that. If you're going to be a head coach or mentoring a team, you got to be more than just a cricketer.”
(With Sportstar/TOI Inputs)
