SA vs IND 2018 : I Am Sure Virat Kohli Will Lead From The Front: Virender Sehwag

Former India opener Virender Sehwag is confident of a good show from Virat Kohli as a batsman as well as a captain in the upcoming series against South Africa.

Kohli’s performance with the bat and his leadership has been nothing short of phenomenal since he led the team to a historic 2-1 Test series win in Sri Lanka in 2015 in what was his first full series as permanent captain. Since then, he led India to series wins over South Africa, West Indies, New Zealand, England, Bangladesh, Australia and twice against Sri Lanka to help the team reach the top of the ICC Test rankings. In ODIs too, he has been equally impressive, leading the team to wins over England, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Australia and New Zealand in addition to the march to the final of the Champions Trophy.

What defined his captaincy in the last couple of years was how he led the team from the front. The India skipper scored a staggering 2818 runs across all formats in international cricket in 2017 – the third-highest tally ever recorded in a calendar year. His second successive double century earlier this month also helped him to set a new record for most double-centuries by captains in Tests – six – going past Brian Lara who had five. Having hit no double-century in his first five years of Test career, the 29-year has now managed six. Until 2015, he had 11 hundreds from 72 innings in 41 Tests with the highest score of 169. Since then, he has scored nine centuries in 22 Tests, converting six of them into double.

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“I am sure Virat Kohli will lead from the front. He will score a lot of runs,” Sehwag told India TV.

“The year 2018 is starting with a big challenge. The tour of South Africa will be India and Virat Kohli’s biggest challenge this year. If Virat manages to win the series, he will be the first Indian captain to do so,” he added.

Sehwag also had a word of advice for Kohli the Captain for the challenging tour.

“As a captain, you need to have a clear strategy in place in South Africa… how to get rid of their batsmen, how to handle their fast bowlers. It is important to implement them on the field,” Sehwag said.

The current India team has dominated Test cricket in the last couple of years like no other team and as a result, expectations are high that it can end India’s long wait for a first Test series win in South Africa. Sehwag is also no different as he too believes Kohli & Co. have the ability to excel in the tough conditions of the African nation.

“This team has the ability to implement the strategies well. All the individuals are capable of handling their responsibilities. I think if the bowlers are able to implement their plans against the South African batsmen, India will win the series,” he opined.

“The form of the batsmen will be very important in South Africa. If your batsmen can match the South African batsmen in the first innings then the pressure will be on them because they are playing at home. So, Kohli and the boys have to match South Africa’s first innings total,” added Sehwag who had made his Test debut in South Africa and had gone on to score a fine century.

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Sehwag further said Australia will be the “biggest challenge” for India, stating: “The biggest challenge for Team India this year will be Down Under. Australia has recently won the Ashes and they have the best bowling attack. Australia is also a challenging place to play cricket.”

The swashbuckling opener went on to say that as a batsman Kohli will face his biggest challenge in England. Kohli failed miserably in his previous tour to England in 2014, scoring just 134 runs in 10 innings with a paltry average of 13.50 before turning his fortunes in the longest format of the game in style.

“As a batsman, Virat will face his biggest challenge in England and I think he is also looking forward to it. I am sure he will perform better this time. 2014 was his first tour to England and he was very young that time… he might not have been completely aware of the conditions there. But this time, he will go there as a player and as a captain. He will have that confidence in himself this time around. Before touring England, he will play in South Africa and in the IPL, so he will be more confident,” he said.

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