When I Became The Captain, My Focus Was On Cultural Change: Virat Kohli On Team India’s Culture

Virat Kohli is undoubtedly one of the greatest captains the world of cricket has seen and the most successful captain India had in terms of numbers. He led India to 40 Test wins in the 68 matches he captained, while leading the team to the finals of two ICC events- the 2017 Champions Trophy and the 2021 World Test Championship.

Losing both of those finals and not winning any ICC trophy will remain a blemish on Virat Kohli’s amazing captaincy career for the Indian team, but that doesn’t take away from the fact, that he raised the bar for the Indian team in many ways. Be it fitness, motivation, the always go for the winning attitude, all of that has been ingrained in the Indian team thanks to Kohli’s aggression.

He also brought many changes in the Indian team culture which went from the calmness and coolness of the MS Dhoni era to the aggressive and give it back to the opposition mentality.

Talking about the team culture within Team India, Kohli said: “Culture is a very difficult thing to change but I have experienced in any field in India it is important to set the culture from the top and that is how things have had an impact in our society. When I became the captain, my focus was on cultural change. I knew we do not lack in skill, I was thinking about maximizing the talent to its potential.

I wanted to not confine my vision and if you want to expand it, then you need culture. Culture requires you to work hard every day. It is a constant process, culture is more important than strategy. As a captain, I was more focused on trying to bring in a culture of we are capable of winning from anywhere.”

Communication Is The Most Important Thing: Virat Kohli On Conveying The Message Properly

While the miscommunication between Virat Kohli and the BCCI selection panel and BCCI President Sourav Ganguly was the most focal point after Kohli stepped down as T20I captain of the Indian team and then was sacked as ODI captain as well; the 33-year-old cited that he focused on having clear communication with his teammates.

“Communication is the most important thing, you cannot someone cut off saying I do not need your point of view, you can respectfully say I am in a good space and if there is help to be taken, then I will reach out to you. That sort of balance has worked out for me,” he added.

Kohli will now be seen in action against the West Indies from February 6 onwards.

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