Virat Kohli as ruthless as Sir Viv Richards, says West Indies great Alvin Kallicharan

Former West Indies captain Alvin Kallicharan said that Virat Kohli is someone who reminds him of Sir Viv Richards. In an interview with Times of India, Kallicharan said that Kohli’s attitude is as ruthless as that of Richards when he was captain and he seems to have the same qualities. “The attitude is strong in both. I am one person who wouldn’t like to compare players. But Kohli’s attitude is as ruthless as Viv’s was,” he said.

Richards captained West Indies in 50 Test matches between 1984 and 1991 and is the only West Indies captain to have never lost a single series. Apart from being one of the greatest batsmen of his generation, Richards was also known for the aggression he employed during his time as captain and how it seeped down to his players.

“Kohli seems to have some of those qualities. He is a successful captain. As a batsman, he is a phenomenon. Always hungry. His consistency is tremendous,” said Kallicharan, who captained the West Indies in 1977/78 after Clive Lloyd joined Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket.

“Kohli now has brought a new brand of captaincy. (He’s) somebody who says ‘I will play with five batsmen or five bowlers’ and sticks to that. Virat Kohli is not an orthodox,” he said.

Virat Kohli was made India’s Test captain in 2014 and became skipper in all formats once MS Dhoni resigned from the post in January 2017. Under him, India have been no.1 in Test cricket since November 2016 and dominated teams they played against at home in 2017.

While they lost the Test series in South Africa, India have taken a 3-0 lead in the ongoing ODI series. They have thus avoided defeat in the six-match series and could even record a first ever win in South Africa if they win the fourth match to be played at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.

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