Former India coach Ravi Shastri has praised former India skipper Virat Kohli for willing to do the hard yards for Test cricket. Kohli, who stepped down from Test captaincy in 2022, was one of the most successful Test skippers not just for India but in the whole world. Shastri was India’s Team Director for most of the time during Kohli’s tenure as skipper and the team rose to number one in Test cricket during their partnership at the top.

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“Kohli was fully engaged with Test cricket. He was passionate. He was prepared to do the hard yards and was prepared to play tough cricket, which fitted my way of thinking. When you play Australia or Pakistan you’ve got to have a ‘no complaints’, ‘no excuses’ attitude,” said Shastri as quoted by news agency PTI.

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Shastri also said that he identified the leadership potential in Kohli while MS Dhoni was still the skipper. Shastri was with Indian Team in 2014 when Kohli took over reins from Dhoni.

“While (MS) Dhoni was my captain, my eye was on him (Kohli). I told him very early in my second month: ‘It’ll take time but watch, observe, be ready (for the captaincy)’,” said the former India coach.

Kohli led India in 68 Tests, winning 40 of them – the most for any Indian skipper. Under Kohli, India also won two times in Australia – the first Asian team to do so. In rest of the 28 games, Kohli’s India lost 17 games and drew 11 of them.

The batter, however, currently is not playing in the ongoing five-match series against England at home due to personal reasons. Kohli last played in India jersey during the 2023 ODI World Cup where he scored 765 runs in 11 games – the most for any batter in the history of tournament.

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