Virat Kohli Is The Benchmark, He Is Not Chasing Anybody - Ravi Shastri

Updated - 14 Dec 2019, 07:55 PM

Ravi Shastri, Virat Kohli, India vs West Indies 2019
Virat Kohli (Photo Credit: AFP)

The Indian skipper Virat Kohli has already been a massive personality in the game of cricket for his exceptional work on the field. He already garnered huge craze across the world to become the most-followed cricketer in the world cricket at the moment. Showering words of praise on the skipper, the head coach Ravi Shastri termed Virat Kohli as the great ambassador of the sport.

Speaking to India today, Ravi Shastri stated that there is no other cricketer in the world cricket at the moment to challenge Virat Kohli across the formats. Besides his batting, Ravi Shastri also lavished praise on Virat Kohli for his exceptional captaincy and called him as the ”ultimate statesman”.

“There’s no cricketer in the world who comes close to him when you put the three together (Virat Kohli as a batsman, captain, and ambassador). He is the ultimate statesman at the moment. He is a great ambassador for the sport. When you go and ask the kids around the world who would they like to watch, the majority of them will say Virat Kohli.”

Ravi Shastri, Virat Kohli
Ravi Shastri (L) and Virat Kohli (R). (Credits: AP)

”If I were a kid, I would want to watch him. He plays within the rules, he plays it hard and tough. He is in your face. He is the quintessential professional when it comes to work ethics. He is a role model for every young kid – not to mention the players who play with him,” Shastri told India Today Consulting Editor Sports Boria Majumdar.

Virat Kohli is chasing himself:

Further, he went on to add saying that Kohli will become better and better to rule world cricket. Shastri said that the captain doesn’t need any benchmarks as he is a benchmark for himself. He also recollected the days when he said the same to the ”great” Sachin Tendulkar, who ended up scoring 100 centuries in International Cricket.

Ravi Shastri, Virat Kohli, India vs West Indies 2019
Virat Kohli (Credits – Getty)

“He will carry on. He will only get better and better. He is not chasing anybody, he is chasing himself. He is the benchmark. He sets the benchmark. It happened with Tendulkar. When Sachin used to play, I used to tell him, ‘you’re the only guy who has got more hundreds that your age’. Not easy!

“Same with Virat. He is chasing himself. He doesn’t want to emulate anyone. ‘Be Virat Kohli’. That’s what we will tell him. We should all enjoy this period with him at the helm,” concluded Shastri.

Read More – India’s Predicted XI for Chennai ODI

Well, as Ravi Shastri said, the Indian skipper Virat Kohli became a most-celebrated cricketer in India at the moment. He will next be in the action when the Indian team lock horns with Kieron Pollard-led side at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

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India vs West Indies 2019 Ravi Shastri Virat Kohli