Virat Kohli: Indian Cricket legend Kapil Dev heaps praise on present India captain ahead of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019

Virat Kohli: Indian Cricket legend Kapil Dev heaps praise on the Indian skipper’s captaincy ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019

The 1983 World Cup winning captain of the Indian Cricket Team- Kapil Dev has some sound words of admiration for the current Indian captain across all formats- Virat Kohli.

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The 60-year-old former India captain has praised Virat Kohli- the captain, and has exclaimed that there is no better person than him to lead India in a “daunting mission” like the World Cup in England.

“He was instinctive 4 years back”- Kapil Dev

Kapil Dev, in a recently released book- ‘World Cup Warriors’ written by veteran journalist, Vijay Lokapally, has compared Virat Kohli- the captain in 2016 to the one in 2019. He has noticed visible changes in the 30-year-old, with signs of maturity having immersed in his conduct as the skipper.

As you all know I love both football & cricket. I asked @DavidLuiz_4 who he was backing for the @cricketworldcup & his reply was @BCCI & captain @imVkohli . He had a special message for the captain. 🇮🇳 #ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/2kKqwSnrtX

— Frank Khalid (@FrankKhalidUK) May 26, 2019

Mentioning about his maturity over the years (in the newly released book) since he took over the responsibility of captaincy from MS Dhoni, Dev said, “”I must say, he (Kohli) has matured amazingly from the time he has taken over captaincy from Dhoni. I know he has been criticised for being aggressive, sometimes brash but that’s how he has played the game”.

“He was instinctive four years back but he has mellowed. You can see the difference in how he seeks reviews from the third umpire. He doesn’t mind consulting his colleagues and that’s a sign of maturity,” Kapil added.

The former veteran was also of the opinion that with the passage of time, Kohli has transitioned from an ‘instinctive’ captain to a more inclusive one, as he has mellowed down over the years.

“He may have looked childish to some but there was never any doubt that he was challenging himself to take the game to the next level, said the legendary India captain.

‘World Cup Warriors’

The book- ‘World Cup Warriors’ has been written by veteran jounalist of ‘The Hindu’- Mr. Vijay Lokapally. The book profiles all the 15 players of the imminent ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 along with the Head coach, Ravi Shastri. The players (and Ravi Shastri) have been assessed by the former World Cup stars of Indian Cricket.

The book also comprises Austin Coutinho’s caricatures of all the players.

India is all set to begin their World Cup campaign with their first match scheduled on June 5 against the mighty South Africans, under the leadership of Virat Kohli.