Virat Kohli says he wants to win like Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly (L) and Virat Kohli

Newly elected captain of the Indian Test team, Virat Kohli, said to former Indian captain, Sourav Ganguly, that he wants to emulate the latter in terms of winning. Despite scoring four centuries in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Series, Kohli did not end up on the winning side even a single time as India lost the series 0-2 to Australia.

Dada, as Ganguly is fondly called, was known to be an aggressive captain, whereas MS Dhoni was more cautious in his approach. Kohli said that he wants the opposition to respect the team when they go out to play.

“Want opposition to respect us”

In a post-match chat with Ganguly, Kohli said, “I hate losing. It's how I have always been.

“I have always seen greats in the game getting respect, you got it after your wins as captain.

“I want (the) opposition to respect us each time we walk out to play. I don't want them to look at us as a bunch of youngsters who can be steamrolled.”

England was a valuable learning experience for Kohli

The 26-year-old said the series against England was a valuable learning curve, one that every batsman should experience.

“I am glad I executed my plans well. I learnt a lot from (failures in) England series. I think every batsman should go through something like that to come out better,” said Kohli.

“Against Australia, I would have been happier if my runs had got us wins.”

Kohli said that the experience his team took from the recently concluded series would help India in the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup.

He said, “We are taking positives from this Test series and I am sure it will help us in the World Cup here next month.

“Exciting times for us going forward. I believe we can win the title. So far, we have played good cricket in Australia and this experience will help us.”

Kohli ended the series having scored a mammoth 692 runs at a staggering average of 86.50.