India’s recent success in the Test format, both home and overseas, should be ascribed to the fact that the country has been able to produce a battery of quality fast bowlers. In fact, many have argued on whether India has ever been able to produce a potent attack like the current one.
Currently, India are at the top of the ICC Test rankings, owing to which they will take on second-placed New Zealand in the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) finals in Southampton on June 18, 2021.
Moreover, the recent tour of Australia further proved how deep and formidable the Indian pace attack is. Despite missing out on spearheads Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah, the second-string attack stepped up to shock the hosts Down Under.
While the Indian seamers have been impressive, Virat Kohli too has been instrumental in helping the pacers achieve success.
Over the years, Kohli has often opined on the importance of having match-winning pacers in the side. Besides, he has also backed them during various crisis. In his latest chat show on Cricbuzz, leading Indian pacer Mohammed Shami had plenty of nice words to say about his captain.
“Indian cricket has been lucky to have five quality pacers. Call it luck or hard work. As a captain, Virat has always been supportive, giving us the complete freedom to execute our plans.
“If the plan doesn’t work, only then he will chip in. He has allowed us to be free and has never forced anything on us. Virat’s attitude on the field has given us pacers a lot of confidence, the 30-year-old said.”
Kohli, has been leading the country since 2014 in the longer version of the game, and has won more matches than any other Indian captain. With 36 wins and 14 defeats in 60 games, Kohli is placed seventh in the all-time list of successful Test captains.
Featured photo: Indranil MUKHERJEE / AFP
