India’s stand-in ODI captain KL Rahul lauded former India captain Virat Kohli and his leadership abilities stating that Kohli pushed the team as hard as he pushed himself and made them believe that they could achieve anything.
Kohli captained India from 2014-2022 in Tests, announcing his resignation on January 15 in a shell-shocking social media post that left everyone in astonishment. While Kohli had quit as T20I captain last November after the T20 World Cup 2021 and was replaced as ODI captain to avoid split captaincy in white-ball formats, many expected him to continue as Test captain for 2-3 years more.
However, it seems that the recent 1-2 Test series loss to a relatively inexperienced South African team seemed to hasten Kohli’s decision to quit the captaincy of the team altogether.
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Paying rich tribute to Virat Kohli’s captaincy and leadership, KL Rahul, during a virtual press conference said: "I think under Virat, Team India has done phenomenal things. We have won a series outside India which hadn't been done before. He has done a lot of things right and he has set a standard for all of us and Team India. It would be important for us to build on that as a group. We obviously know what it takes to be a champion team. Obviously, every series is a different opportunity and every one of us is excited to play here in South Africa.”
"When it comes to leadership, Virat had this amazing ability to get the best out of everybody, he pushed everybody and made us believe that we can do special things. That is something I have learnt from him and hopefully, I can do that with the team as well," he added.
Rahul will be leading the Indian team in the ODI format for the first time and said that having done exceptionally well in the white-ball formats under captains like MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, he is confident of carrying that legacy forward and hopes to follow the pattern set by the former captains.
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"Look, I am not someone who has a lot of plans and I do not really have targets. I take it one game at a time and that is how I play my cricket as a player. That's how I like to lead the team as well. We have had great captains like MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli. They have shown us the way, under Virat, we have done exceptional things as a white-ball team so the pattern is already set," said Rahul.
"It is important for us to build on it and keep getting better as a team. We have shown over the years that we are a team that is hungry to do well and keep getting better. We have had an honest chat on where we need to improve as individuals and as a team. For me, as a leader, it will be about supporting the guys and keeping them in a mindset where they are excited about doing good things for the team," he added.
India and South Africa will lock horns in a three-match ODI series, with the first match set to be played on Wednesday in Paarl.
(ANI inputs)
