This Virat Kohli-led Indian team is currently one of the best running around in the world right now, with only a few teams having the capability to match the results of the Men in Blue.
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Virat Kohli has dominated in most of the games ever since he was chosen as captain, and that has prompted Australian legend, Michael Clarke to speak about the team.
The former Australian skipper has revealed that people have to give Sourav Ganguly credit for the incredible unbeatable mentality, and passion and aggression into the Asian giants.
“I think there are similarities in this Indian team and Australian units over the years. To be honest, I must say that Sourav Ganguly deserves a lot of credit for the environment he created. ”
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“He never took a backseat and that has transpired on. Dhoni, Kumble, Kohli have all done it their own way. Led by an aggressive skipper they are not afraid to lose. But credit must go to Sourav,” Clarke said.
Australia are set to meet India in a limited-overs format series starting with the 3-match ODI series on September 17 in Chennai. The two teams played a Test series earlier in the year, in which Kohli could not perform individually, but captained India to a 2-1 series victory.
However, the 36-year-old claimed that ti was winning that would count at the end of the day: “At the end of the day it comes to who wins. Doesn’t matter how many runs you score”.
Michael Clarke claims that this testing series in India will begin the preparation for the 50-over World Cup in 2019 in England, as the management would get a group of players to carry on until the World Cup in England.
“The support staff has to work out the way they wish to play. Whether they want to play an aggressive brand of cricket or wish to hold back and play the full quota of overs. ”
“We still have some way to go before the 2019 world cup, but honestly we have not won as much as we would like. A carrot right there for Smith and the boys because if they win 4-1 then they become the no.1 side again,” the 36-year-old resisted.
Clarke also believes that this Australian team does not have the problem of adapting to Indian conditions, thanks to the IPL, unlike the previous Australian squads that visited the sub-continent.
“The experience of playing in India makes it all the more easier for the Aussies. India is like a second home for these guys as they have played in the IPL. ”
“They know the conditions and the opposition so there can’t be any excuse for Smith and boys,” the 36-year-old continued.
When asked to compare between India’s Virat Kohli and Australia’s Steve Smith, the former Australian skipper revealed that Kohli was a little ahead of the current Aussie skipper in limited-overs cricket, while it will be too early to judge both of them on their captaincy.
“Kohli is a better ODI batsman just because Smith is better in the longer format. Captaincy wise, both are improving. At the moment I would put Kohli on top in the captaincy battle as his team is winning,” Clarke spoke.
The 36-year-old also believes that Hardik Pandya will be an integral part of the Indian setup, and he is lucky to have someone like MS Dhoni to teach him his finishing skills.
“Hardik has a huge advantage of having Dhoni in the set-up. It is a big boost when you have someone with such experience in the line-up and helping out the youngster,” he said.
However, the former Australian skipper could not resist when he was asked about the result of the series, “3-2 to the Aussies,” Clarke concluded with a smile.
