Virat Kohli is Someone Who Will Go For a Win Come What May - Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin is one of the few people who has closely followed the incredible transformation of Virat Kohli as a rookie to the batting mainstay of the team to a brilliant captain.

The off-spinner made his debut in 2011 under Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s captaincy when Kohli was still trying to find his feet in international cricket.

Fast forward six years, Kohli has not only become arguably the best batsmen in the world but has also become one of the best captains in the world. In his short captaincy career so far, the 29-year old has already led India to number one ranking in both Tests, and ODIs.

He has led India to nine consecutive Test series wins which recently came to an end in South Africa and is yet to lose an ODI series as skipper. He also led the side to the final of Champions Trophy last year.

Kohli has looked next to unstoppable since taking charge of the team, and Ashwin has perhaps revealed the reason behind it. The off-spinner insisted that the Delhi-born star seeks to win no matter what the situation is which according to him gives an ‘amazing intensity to the team’.

“He (Kohli) is someone who will go for a win come what may. He does not have a negative bone in his body, he always talks about a win, never about saving situations, we’re always moving ahead. It is good because the players know what is required from them. It gives an amazing amount of intensity to the team,” Ashwin told reporters after the Group ‘C’ match between Tamil Nadu and Gujarat in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Ashwin went on to say Kohli is on-par with some of the greatest captains of all time.

“This is his first series overseas as a full-time captain. I am sure all the best captains in the past too have a set of home games. He (Kohli) is already on par with most of the greatest captains that have played the game. It is best that we give credit to him,” he said.

The Tamil Nadu star further spoke on his experience in South Africa. The off-spinner played two of the three Tests before returning to the country, as he was not the part of the limited-overs squad. In the two Tests, he picked up seven wickets in addition to scoring 90 runs.

Ashwin said he had achieved what he wanted to, though he would have liked to have got a few more wickets.

“On a personal account, I would say I batted beautifully through the first two Test matches. If I had just held myself when the second new ball was taken, I could have made a massive difference. I felt a little disappointment for that. But in general, that was my role in the game, I had to counter-attack, and I felt that way,” he said.

“As an individual who went into that series, whatever I wanted to achieve I did achieve. Probably a few wickets lesser than I would have ideally liked. A few dropped catches, which is part of the game,” he added.

India lost the Test series 2-1. The visitors had a chance to win both the first Tests, but they ended up on the losing side due to batting failures in both of them. And just like many, Ashwin also felt the series was closely fought despite the result going South Africa’s way.

“I feel the series was very very close and it was on the line. In fact, even at Cape Town and Centurion till the last ball was bowled we probably were in the game. Probably, Centurion a little bit earlier. I thought we played really good cricket,” Ashwin said.

“On both the occasions, if we had won the toss it would have made a massive difference. As a team, we really played well in South Africa. It gives us a lot of impetus going into the England series,” he added.

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