Ishant Sharma Praises Virat Kohli As The Best Captain

There is not much doubts about Virat Kohli being one of the most successful captains in Test cricket for India in the history of the game. Under his leadership, India won the Border Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in Australia in 2018-19. However, the highlight point of Virat's captaincy definitely was his backing for the fast bowlers like Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah to play the longest format of the game. 

Under Virat, bowling was complete admits Ishant Sharma

Incidentally, India's lanky fast bowler Ishant Sharma witnessed a second phase of his Test career under Virat Kohli's captaincy as his wicket-taking ability increased impressively well during the last few years. During a recent conversation, Ishant termed Kohli as the best captain he has ever played under in the national team. The veteran pacer revealed that the Indian Test team was going through a transition phase under the leadership of MS Dhoni. Ishant also mentioned that the duo of Shami and Umesh Yadav became very different fast bowlers under Kohli's captaincy. 

"He (Kohli) was the best. When Virat was captain, bowling was complete. When we were playing under Mahi bhai, we were in a transition phase. At that time, Shami and Umesh were new, and only I was there. Everyone else would rotate. Bhuvi was also new. There is no match for Mahi bhai as a communicator. But what he did was groom the bowlers and leave them with Virat. Shami and Umesh, over time, became different bowlers and then Jasprit came in. So, he got a complete package. The best thing he did was identify everyone’s traits, that he used to talk about one thing with one person and then Iet them be," said Ishant Sharma during a recent interview. 

While comparing the numbers, Virat Kohli has a brilliant winning percentage of 63.38 as India captain while MS Dhoni has 53.61. However, Rohit Sharma still has a better win percentage as compared to Kohli. 

"First thing, he was aggressive. If you’re bowling with the new ball, you can concede 25 runs in five overs as long as you take two wickets," Ishant added. 

Virat Kohli stepped down as India's Test captain last year in 2022 after India's disappointing series defeat in South Africa. After leaving the T20I captaincy post the 2021 T20 World Cup, the star Indian batsman was also removed as ODI skipper. In the meanwhile, Rohit Sharma will be captaining India in the upcoming Asia Cup 2023 and the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 scheduled to be played at home.