Virat Kohli Has Changed Indian Cricket With His Leadership Footprint - Faf du Plessis

South Africa star batter Faf du Plessis credited Virat Kohli for changing the dynamics of Indian cricket over the years both as a player and a leader. Kohli has been the lynchpin of the Indian batting line-up over the years and has single-handedly won matches for the national team with his sheer brilliance and guile.

He was the most fearest batter for the bowlers at one stage in his career across all three formats of the game. Kohli has amassed 23,650 international runs in 511 innings across all formats above the overall average of 50 and has 122 50-plus scored and 70 centuries next to his name.

Virat Kohli led India in 213 matches across all formats

Kohli led India in 68 Tests, 95 ODIs and 50 T20 International matches and won 135 matches in all three formats before he relinquished captaincy from two of the formats in the span of three months. He stepped down from India’s Test captaincy role after they lost the red-ball series 2-1 to South Africa in January this year.

India won the Test series for the first time in Australia in 2018-19 under Kohli’s leadership and they were also leading 2-1 in the incompleted Test series in England last year. India didn’t lose a single Test series at home under Kohli’s captaincy.

Virat Kohli is one of the most respected leaders of the game: Faf du Plessis

Faf du Plessis replaced Kohli as the new captain of the IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for the upcoming season of IPL 2022. The South African player, who has played numerous international games against India, lavished praise over Kohli’s crucial contributions in shaping the Indian cricket team and turning it into a competitive in nature.

“Virat is not just for RCB but also for an international game. He is one of the most respected leaders of the game. His performance as a cricket player has been probably one of the greatest.

“So huge respect for what he has done with the bat in his hand, but also captaincy perspective,” Faf said in a media interaction during RCB’s unbox event on Saturday. 

“He has changed Indian cricket. I have seen that happen over time. Playing against India for so long, I could see that shift, his leadership footprint has brought in the Indian team — a competitive, fit Indian team that was fighting fire with fire as no Indian team ever did before,” he added. 

Kohli is RCB’s most serving captain as he led the franchise in 140 IPL matches having won 64 of them since he took over the reins from New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori in the middle of IPL 2012.

Also Read: IPL 2022: Excited For Faf du Plessis To Lead RCB And Play Under Him- Virat Kohli