India captain Virat Kohli's ever-aggressive captaincy is in discussion these days after the second Test win at Lord's. Kohli was going after the English batters and had a few verbal spats on the field.
Former India cricketer Farokh Engineer likes Kohli's captaincy but he feels his aggression should be within limits especially while sledging. The India captain was fired up after the clash between James Anderson and Jasprit Bumrah.
"I admire Virat for that. He has been an aggressive captain. It's good. Of course, it has to be within limits. Otherwise, the umpire or the match referee can intervene," said Engineer in a conversation with Sports Tak.
He added, "Maybe sometimes, yes (on toning his aggression down). He gets a bit too carried away, at times. But I like his aggression. He is a very good captain. I am all for it. He is I think one of the finest batsmen in the world."
Indian fast bowlers bowled out England for 120 runs in the second innings to win the match by 151 runs. But before the terrific bowling performance, it was the partnership between Bumrah and Mohammed Shami which turned the game.
When England were looking to bundle out India cheaply after Rishabh Pant's wicket on Day 5, Bumrah and Shami put up a partnership of 89 runs for the ninth wicket and stunned the hosts.
"Also, they do sledging, so that your batsman lose confidence. But Bumrah and Shami were khadoos (stubborn), they replied in their own way. They couldn't bat very well but they knew how to survive. By surviving, they got a lot of runs and those runs were very important in enabling Virat to declare the innings. That was humiliating for England," said Engineer.
Engineer also recalled the sledging from his playing days and said that he believed in responding with his performance instead of words. "They used to call us 'bloody Indians'. They ridiculed our accent but I answered them back, I gave it back to them on the pitch by scoring runs and wicketkeeping and all that. And by gaining respect."
"And they began to realise that Indians are not stupid. They understood that Indians are sturdy and in no way inferior. I tried to tell them that I am not equal to you but we Indians are better than you. That's the image I portrayed to them," said Engineer.
"Oh yes, they don't like it because they are not used to getting it back. They are used to getting one way. We Indians were used to keeping quiet. But I was the first person to start giving it back to them. When you give it back to them, they start respecting you," he concluded.
(With Sports Tak Inputs)
