Kepler Wessels –Cricket Commentator and former South African captain, on Sunday, defended Virat Kohli’s leadership in the recently concluded Freedom Series, saying the skipper has his own style of leading the side and he ‘cannot find fault in how he has led this Indian team overall’.
Speaking to Press Trust of India, Kepler Wessels said, “Virat Kohli brings out the best in this Indian team. He gives them the confidence to win, with his runs and his leadership on the field.”
He further added, “He shows a lot of emotion on the field. Sometimes this can be a good thing and at other times, maybe it's not such a good thing. Definitely, that is an area where some more balance is needed. But you cannot find fault in how he has led this Indian team overall.”
The commentator also blamed the careless run-outs for their poor show at the Centurion, believed they had a chance to win the second Test. He added, “In the second Test, India should have done a lot better definitely. There wasn't as much in the Centurion pitch to support the fast bowlers, especially in the first three days. But then India had careless run-outs and it cost them dearly.”
The former South African cricketer-turned-commentator is also impressed with the four-pronged Indian pace attack in South Africa throughout the whole Test series.
He further said on the same, “The Indian pacers have been not just been good but in fact been very good. They have all bowled well, whether it was Jasprit Bumrah, who was playing his first Test series. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami are both very good Test bowlers, especially in these conditions. Ishant Sharma showed a lot of experience. They have all bowled as a unit. Even R Ashwin (at Cape Town and Centurion) bowled so much better as compared to his performances in South Africa earlier. So, you cannot really find fault with the Indian bowlers at all for this series' loss. The batsmen have let them down.”
Wessels also felt that India failed to make a good team balance which costs them Freedom Series in South Africa, where they need to play six specialist batsmen, according to him.
He signed off by saying, “India didn't quite get their team balance right in this series. But I also understand that it is a tough one to call from the captain's point of view. Looking back at what they went in with, I just think that the Indian batsmen haven't been able to cope with South African conditions and the South African bowling attack. That has been the main reason for their 2-1 series' loss.”
