Former India hockey captain Dhanraj Pillay, who is seen as the Sachin Tendulkar of Indian hockey, has heaped praise on aggressive Virat Kohli, saying he sees a reflection of himself in India captain.
Kohli's ultra-aggressive and attacking style both as captain and batsman is well known to all and the dashing right-hander is undoubtedly the most aggressive player Indian cricket has ever seen.
However, the captain has often been criticized for being over-aggressive but at the same time, some have also backed, suggesting that approach has helped him to raise the game and take it to another level and the hockey legend also believes that there is no 'good or bad boy'.
The 54-year-old, who is India’s leading goal-scorer and was also an aggressive competitor on the field during his 15-year-old career, said he loves how Kohli is leading the Indian team while saying he is just fighting and winning for the country so there is nothing bad in aggression.
Speaking to Sportskeeda, Dhanraj said: “Whenever I see Virat on TV, I often feel aye yaar yeto aapne jaisa banda hai (he is like me). When you are playing for India, the country comes first and then your name, state and religion. Virat replicates that sentiment whenever he takes the field for India. He knows how to motivate his players. I like it a lot.”
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Pillay, who led India to a gold medal victory in the 1998 Asian Games, further added: “There is no question of bad boys or good boys. He is fighting for his country. When you enter the field, you want to win all the matches. You just can’t go in and have a fun game and come out. The entire country is looking up to him and cricket is such a popular game that it has become a religion in the country,”
He also believes that every young cricketer should learn from the way Kohli plays his game. Pillay further added, “I love to see every player like Virat on the field. His attitude is very good. Virat is Virat. Too good. See his fielding standard and he has so much of aggression and his batting technique is so good. I watch cricket at times and I am so excited to see the fitness level of Kohli. He is so good there. So many youngsters get inspired by his fitness level.”
Dhanraj signed off by saying, “When Virat plays IPL, pura team ko charge karke rakhta hai. Ajay Jadeja and Mohd Kaif were some of the fielders who kept the enthusiasm of the team intact. The opposition is also on the backfoot if you are aggressive as a captain.”
(With Sportskeeda Inputs)
