You can show commitment without yelling after each fall of wicket: Ex-Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar

By IANS

LEEDS Skipper Virat Kohli may have been able to unnerve his English opponents in the second Test but it seems to have backfired at Headingley as a charged-up England, after losing composure against Indian players aggression, have got themselves back in driver’s seat in the ongoing third Test.

More importantly, Kohli’s style of aggression ha’n’t found full support from former India opener and captain Sunil Gavaskar, who said that aggression nee’n’t necessarily be in your face.

While the cricketing world, including former England captain Nasser Hussain, were going gaga over how Kohli’s aggression has transformed the Indian team after the visitors won the second Test at Lord’s, Gavaskar was irked with the comparison made between the teams he played in and the one Kohli was leading.

Hussain had written in his column that “Virat Kohli is the right man at the right time to lead this formidable India side”. He had added, “His players, in particular the bowlers, want an aggressive captain. They want Kohli stirring things up, as he did so effectively in that brilliant second Test at Lord’s This India are not a side who will be bullied, as perhaps previous generations have been.”

The reference to teams of the past being bullied did not go down well with Gavaskar, who took an exception to Hussain’s observation in the commentary box on the first day and said that aggression needn’t be shown only by being in your face.

“When you say previous generations were bullied, I don’t think so. I’d be very upset if my generation was being talked about as being bullied. If you have a look at the record, in 1971 we won, that was my first tour in England. 1974, we had internal problems so we lost 3-0. 1979, we lost 1-0, it could have been 1-1 if we chased down 438 at the Oval. 1982 we again lost 1-0. In 1986 we won 2-0, we could have won it 3-0,” Gavakskar recalled on air.

“I don’t think aggression means you have always got to be at the face of the opposition. You can show passion, you can show your commitment towards your team without yelling after each fall of wicket,” added Gavaskar.

The obvious reference was to the way Kohli has behaved on the field.

Gavaskar though did agree that Kohli brings energy to the team and supported Hussain on that.

Hussain had said: “I for one, quite like the way Kohli lea’s this side. That’s what I wanted to say. That team talk in ‘which he said ‘let’s unleash fire on this English side’ and you could see the fire that they unleashed.”

Gavaskar said he doesn’t disagree with that. “There is no argument in that. The question is saying that the previous generations were bullied. I don’t think this is right,” said the 72-year-old.