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Ever since gatecrashing into Team India, Virat Kohli’s stature in the cricketing world has grown from strength to strength. Be it the leadership ability, or an incredible consistency with the bat, there’s quite no one like Kohli at the moment.
A sort of player who wears his heart on the sleeves, Kohli earlier used to be a wayward, aggressive man who never shied off from expressing his emotions on the field.
However, the post of captaincy has mellowed down the Indian skipper. He now comes out on the field as a more mature and sophisticated cricketer, who loves to lead from the front.
Simon Taufel, the ICC Umpire of the Year from 2004 to 2008, has put forth his opinion on what makes Kohli such a great leader on and off the field.
‘Virat leads by example’
Taufel lauded the fitness and agility of Team India, credited Kohli for setting the benchmark for the rest of the team.
“It’s very important from a leader’s perspective to not only be the best they can be but to lead by example. It’s fair to say that the India team you’re seeing now is the fittest and most agile team in many years,” said Taufel in a chat with Inswinging Yorker.
“That’s because Virat leads by example in that area and he doesn’t ask people to do things that he wouldn’t do himself. I think that’s a very important quality as a leader.”
The former Australian umpire further stated that Virat has matured as a leader and always puts the team before self.
“The other thing is his humility. Virat is really starting to mature as a leader and he’s really starting to show some humility. I was at the ‘Pink-ball’ Test match at Kolkata in November last year and at the end of the game when he was given the trophy, you would expect him to stand in the middle with the silverware.”
“However, on this occasion, he chose not to. He instead gave the trophy to a player who wasn’t a part of the squad in that match. Virat went on to stand on the side with the team’s support staff. It wasn’t about Virat Kolhi, it was about the team. It’s a very important quality as a leader,” Taufel concluded.
