"The team was not that aggressive under Virat Kohli" - Aakash Chopra on former Indian skipper's captaincy

Aakash Chopra has pointed out that the Indian team under Virat Kohli was not as aggressive as their skipper's demeanor on the field of play.

Kohli gave up his role as captain of the national team in the shortest format of the game after the T20 World Cup last year. He was subsequently replaced as the Men in Blue's ODI skipper and gave up the reins in Test cricket as well.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra reflected on the captaincy styles of various leaders in the Indian team. As for Kohli, he said:

"Virat Kohli's big focus was - 'I want to do this.' It was a lot about wanting to set an example. Virat Kohli was very very aggressive on the field, in your face, never taking a backward step, but the team was not that aggressive under Virat Kohli."

Chopra reckons the Indian team probably misunderstood the former skipper's call for intent and explained:

"That's a very interesting bit that he was himself very aggressive but the team was not aggressive. There could be multiple reasons for that. He talked about intent many times but we saw [Cheteshwar] Pujara getting run out twice in one match. So the 'intent' word was perhaps not understood correctly."

Kohli always believed in taking the game forward in Test match cricket. He wanted the Indian batters to show the intent to score runs rather than spend time at the crease to tire out the opposition bowlers.

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"He just redefined the rules" - Aakash Chopra on Virat Kohli's Test captaincy

Virat Kohli preferred to play five frontline bowlers in Test cricket

Aakash Chopra highlighted that Kohli's insistence on playing five bowlers in Test cricket redefined the format. He elaborated:

"The way the team played cricket under his (Kohli's) captaincy, in Test cricket of course, because he played five bowlers, I think he just redefined the rules. The philosophy was aggressive there, it is a separate issue altogether whether the team was that aggressive or not."

Chopra, however, pointed out that the same aggression was missing in limited-overs cricket and even in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The reputed commentator observed:

"Bowlers were because they were hunting as a pack but I didn't see the philosophy to be aggressive in white-ball cricket. Kohli the aggressive player, the team under him was not that aggressive, strangely so. It is not only here with him, you will find the same thread in the IPL as well."

Kohli failed to win a global ICC event as Team India skipper. The former Royal Challengers Bangalore captain also could not lead his franchise to a title in the prestigious league.