'Ravi Shastri will let Virat Kohli go, won't mind seeing him exchange words with Anderson': Nasser Hussain
“Ravi Shastri, as a coach, will just let Kohli go. He won't mind seeing him exchanging words with Anderson or signalling from the balcony to try to get the players off for bad light. It is the captain who is very much in charge,” Hussain said.
Former England captain Nasser Hussain said the partnership between India skipper Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri is one of the main reasons behind the success of the team. Hussain said Shastri would never stop Kohli from having a go at the opposition’s best cricketer like James Anderson of England.
“Ravi Shastri, as a coach, will just let Kohli go. He won't mind seeing him exchanging words with Anderson or signalling from the balcony to try to get the players off for bad light. It is the captain who is very much in charge,” Hussain wrote in his column for the Daily Mail ahead of the third Test at Headingley which begins on Wednesday.
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Kohli and Anderson were involved in a war of words during India’s second innings at Lord’s. The India captain was heard on the stump mic giving it back to Anderson after the veteran England seamer appeared to have sledged the Indian captain first.
The Kohli-Anderson duel was one of the many verbal encounters of the Lord’s Test, which turned out to be one of the most heated Tests between the two sides. India in the end won the match by 151 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
“What Kohli in particular represents is modern-day India, the one that won't be pushed around. Even though umpires might like to remind him occasionally that he doesn't run the game,” Hussain said.
Hussain also credited Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane and limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma for their continuous support for Kohli and his aggressive style of playing cricket.
“More significant, perhaps, are the senior players Kohli has beside him. Rohit Sharma was right there when he was complaining about the light, and both he and Rahane are integral to the tactics of India. Rohit might come across as a calm, slow heartbeat sort of guy but he is very driven to succeed too.
“Captains can't tick every box and Kohli can follow the ball a bit in the field. Sometimes he will do something and you will think, "What is he doing that for?" That's when he will look to his lieutenants for assistance,” he added.