Kolkata: Viv Richards is happy that the current Indian team has come a long way in terms of aggressive attitude from the teams that he played against and credit should go to skipper Virat Kohli for infusing positive attitude.
“India were not like this years back (70’s, 80’s and 90’s). But it’s nice to have someone like Virat. I love it (aggression), why not? They now love to give it back. That’s what cricket is all about. I love Virat’s captaincy,” Richards said during a promotional event.
While there has been criticism for Kohli’s aggressive brand of captaincy, Richards finds nothing wrong. “He competes hard. He expects results. A lot of people have said he’s too aggressive… I don’t think so. When you have a guy who can lead from the front, it can only rub off on the individuals who are following him. As you can see, the Indian team today is the team to beat in world cricket.”
Shifting focus to the ongoing India’s Test series Down Under, Richards agreed to the euphoria that Kohli’s men have the best chance to beat Australia for the first time. “It’s going to be a great series in Australia. Aussies have fought back well after India won the opening Test in Adelaide. Even though this Indian team are the number one, you should never underestimate Australia. They are fighters. With the series one-all now, it would be a very good one. But I would say India has the perfect chance to win a series in Australia under the aggressive captaincy of Kohli.”
Asked about the plus point of India team, he said: “I remember the days when we came here for the first time in 1970s, they had the best spinners in the world. And now they have a great pace attack as well. I think that’s the plus point,” he said.The momentum is definitely on Australia’s side after the series-levelling win in the second Test in Perth, but former captain Sourav Ganguly on Friday said India can still win the four-match rubber.
India suffered a 146-run drubbing at the hands of Australia in the second Test. The four-match series is now level at 1-1 ahead of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. “India can still win, it depends on how they play. All in the playing eleven have to take up responsibility. Everybody has to play well,” Ganguly said. India’s batting, except for the duo of Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara, have come to a cropper and Ganguly urged the middle-order to take up more responsibility.