Cricket legends come together in praise of Virat Kohli; compare him to Kapil Dev

Three cricket legends, Nasser Hussain, VVS Laxman and Krishnamachari Srikkanth, heaped praise on the commitment and attacking mentality displayed on the field by Indian captain Virat Kohli.

Conversing on the Star Sports show ‘Cricket Connected’ on Instagram, all three greats of the game cited Kohli's winning attitude as one of the biggest reasons for India's fighting performances overseas. Although Kohli's record in SENA countries isn't that great, winning only four of the 16 Tests played, the mindset of the team has been nothing short of brilliant. Not to forget, India's pace bowling department has come into its own under Kohli's leadership.

Former England captain, Hussain believes that Kohli's isn't much perturbed about the statistics flying around, instead, what he cared was the win/loss column.

Virat Kohli leading his men

Speaking about why Kohli is special, he revealed a conversation he had with former England coach Duncan Fletcher. According to Fletcher, Kohli was always a star in the making, who had some 'real fight and character' in him.

“He is not worried about stats. The only stats he is worried about is the win/loss column. I was speaking to (former India head coach) Duncan Fletcher about him and he said ‘watch out for this lad. He has a real fight and character in him’.”

Continuing from where Hussain left off, former chief selector Srikkanth went to the extent of comparing Kohli with the 1983 WC-winning captain, Kapil Dev. He praised the confidence and the self-belief shown by Kohli over the years and how it had kept him going.

“I played with Kapil Dev and played under him. I can compare Virat Kohli with Kapil Dev. I see a tremendous amount of self-belief in him.”

1983 Cricket World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev (right)

Adding to the praise was former India batsman Laxman, who said that he has been a long admirer of Kohli's work ethic and discipline. According to him, the intensity that Kohli brought to the field was contagious and all team members benefitted a lot from their captain's energy.

“The one thing I admire about Virat Kohli is his intensity. One thing I was worried about was whether he will burn out quickly. But not even one session or one over he lets his intensity drop and that is really commendable.”