London [UK], August 14 : Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri named legendary batter Virat Kohli as the best player he coached for Team India, hailing his ability to "dominate, be the face, play hard, but play fair".
Virat, with whom Shastri had a great camaraderie as a captain-coach duo from 2017 to 2021, earned some high praise from the former all-rounder in a video on Sky Sports' YouTube Channel. Shastri also expressed awe over some of the "unreal" innings the superstar played in Australia, South Africa, and England.
"I would say Kohli, the batsman in his pomp, was unbelievable because in those five years when India were No. 1 in the red-ball format. Some of the innings he played in Australia, South Africa, England, across formats was unreal," said Shastri.
Virat he said, was the player he identified as the "leader" of the team after MS Dhoni had retired.
"Once I took over the job, and once Dhoni had finished, he did a magnificent job. I think his first skills as a batsman, his ability to dominate, be in the face, play hard but play fair, and wanting to win and take the game forward," he added.
Speaking on his regrets as a head coach, Shastri said that while he has "no regrets whatsoever", the team was a "little unlucky"
"We should have won an ICC trophy. In that time, we had the team to do it, but we still played some great cricket," he concluded.
Under Kohli-Shastri, India registered a semifinal finish in 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup and a runnner-up finish in ICC World Test Championship 2019-21, losing the final to New Zealand.
In his peak years, from 2016-19, Virat had smashed 10,603 runs in just 164 matches and 186 innings at a mind-boggling average of 71.16, with 36 centuries and 46 fifties with the best score of 254*.
Under him, India became a powerful Test unit, with a brilliant crop of fast bowlers consisting of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav among others. As a Test batter from 2016-19, Virat dominated the scene, scoring 4,208 runs in 43 Tests at an average of 66.79 and striking at a brisk rate of 61.88. He managed 16 centuries and 10 fifties, scattered throughout the globe, with the best score of 254*.
During these dominant years in international scene, his ability to produce masterclass knocks, especially in chase in South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia (SENA) made him one of the most dependable batters for India.
However in 2020s, while his white-ball game was just as good if not better, his Test game was never the same and he called it quits from white clothing this May ahead of the England tour, with an average of just above 30 and only three Test centuries to show for since 2020-start.
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