Ravichandran Ashwin goes brutally honest on Virat Kohli

India's ace offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin has heaped praises on former India captain Virat Kohli. During an interview, Ashwin called Kohli's captaincy "inspirational" and claimed that he always leads from the front.

Virat Kohli led India from 2014 to 2022. During his tenure, India achieved several milestones, although, India's drought for an ICC trophy continued. He led India in 2013 matches overall, winning 135 and losing 60. He had a win percentage of 63.38.

During this period, many players witnessed their peak form and Ravichandran Ashwin was one of them. Ashwin established himself as India's premier spinner, especially in Tests, and became one of the top red-ball spinners in the world.

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Ravichandran Ashwin hails Virat Kohli; and calls him an "inspirational captain"

During a recent interview with sports journalist Vimal Kumar, Ashwin called Virat Kohli as an inspirational captain. The offspinner claimed that Kohli likes to lead from the front and show the way for others to follow.

"Virat Kohli is an Inspirational Captain. He inspired every player in the team. And Whatever he wants from the team, he shows it by doing it himself. Kohli leads from the front as Captain," Ashwin said in the interview.

Ravi Ashwin said - "Virat Kohli is an Inspirational Captain. He inspired every player in the team. And Whatever he wants from the team, he shows it by doing it himself. Kohli leads from the front as Captain". (Vimal Kumar YT). pic.twitter.com/JoJOWMfvtF

— Tanuj Singh (@ImTanujSingh) September 1, 2024

India's Test record under Virat Kohli

Under the leadership of Virat Kohli, India transformed into a formidable Test team. India won 39 out of 68 Tests under his leadership with a win percentage of 58.82. Out of these 39 victories, 24 were at home while 15 were away wins.

India's overseas record significantly improved under the leadership of Kohli where they registered historic wins in South Africa and England.

But the icing on the cake was the Test series win in Australia in 2018-19. In the next tour of Australia during 2020-21, India registered another series win, although Kohli had to leave the series midway after the first Test.

Kohli's form was brilliant during his captaincy tenure. During this period, he amassed 5703 runs at an average of 55.36 and smashed 20 hundreds.

The 35-year-old scored a record seven double-hundreds as a captain, which is the most by a captain in Test history.

Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin have played most of the part of their Test career together. In India's home Tests especially, both are among India's top players in the red-ball format.

Ashwin was also a regular part of India's white-ball formats before he lost his place after the 2017 Champions Trophy.

Both Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin are expected to be in action during India's upcoming home Test series against Bangladesh starting on September 19. Both are likely to play key roles in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 to be played later this year.