Virat Kohli has insisted his entire team deserved credit after the second slaughtering of West Indies ensured he became India’s most successful Test captain.
Kohli’s 28th win as skipper, which took him past the previous record tally of MS Dhoni, was just like the 27th, an emphatic thrashing of an overmatched woeful Windies outfit.
India completed a 257-run victory on the fourth day of the second Test in Kingston.
Asked about his success as captain in the post-match presentation, Kohli said: “It’s a by-product of the quality team that we have here, to be honest. I think all the credit has to go to the whole team.
“Captaincy is just a ‘c’ in front of your name, honestly. It’s the collective effort that matters.
“It took a lot of character from the boys. It was a game full of grit and determination and [we’re] really happy to get the result.”
India – the world’s number-one ranked side – now sit top of the World Test Championship table, their 2-0 series win in the Caribbean earning a maximum 120-point haul.
“For us, it’s just the start of the championship,” said Kohli.
“What’s happened in the past is irrelevant and we just want to look forward and keep continuing to play good cricket.”
India’s star batsman also lavished praise on Hanuma Vihari, who scored his maiden Test century in the first innings as India piled up 416.
“I think it was a top-class inning,” said Kohli. ”He’s a guy who’s very sure of his game and it shows when he plays.
“It’s a very young career [so far] but he’s shown why he has been backed and selected in this team.”
No Windies player came close to matching Vihari’s feats. Shamarh Brooks’ second-innings fifty was the only score of note for a team bowled out for 117 and 210.
The Windies fared similarly in the first Test, making 222 and 100, leading skipper Jason Holder to state: “We just need to be able to put some scores on the board. We haven’t been able to get the answers as yet.”
Meanwhile, Kohli hailed teammate Jasprit Bumrah as the most complete fast bowler in international cricket.
“There is not much you can say about Jasprit, the way he has been bowling. All we can say is we are really lucky to have him on our team,” Kohli said yesterday.
“Very rarely do you find a pack of bowlers who are hunting together. And bowling for each other, bowling in partnerships. If you see today, he had a bit of a niggle, but he came in and just bowled three overs in a spot, did the job for the team when he was in pain as well,” Kohli said of Bumrah.
Kohli said Bumrah confuses the batsmen with his variety. “He confuses you with angles, with swing, he’ll set up for the outswinger, then bowl the inswinger, and it’s coming at pace, and then he can hit you with bouncers as well. So I think he is the most complete bowler in world cricket right now.”
“It’s the mindset, when you put your mind to a certain thing, you strive towards it. He definitely wants to be the best bowler in the world, there is no question about it. He has moulded his life like that, he has moulded his discipline, his work ethic, the way he trains, the way he takes care of his diet, the way he bowls as much as he has to.
“He has absolute control of what he is doing. So when he steps out on the field, he knows how much he can contribute to the team. It is really pleasing to see a guy who was tagged as a T20 specialist, he came in and took over the one-day scene, and now he is taking over Test cricket. He is proving people wrong that there is a set template for every format. If you have a belief, you can play every format. I totally vouch for that as well. He definitely has the mindset to succeed in all three formats and wants to be the best in the world.”
The 25-year-old Bumrah took seven wickets in the second Test. So far, in his 12 Tests, he has 62 victims with five five-wicket hauls. He made his Test debut in January 2018 against South Africa in Cape Town.
(SportsMax/Mynation)
