Chennai: The England cricket team may have a future captain in the form of ace batsman Joe Root, believes India skipper Virat Kohli.
The India captain has been on blistering form for his country this season, taking an outright lead to become the country’s leading scorer, with 640 runs (avg. 128), in the home Test series against England.
Although the visiting team have not been able to put up much of a challenge against India, trailing the series 3-0 after four of the five Tests, Joe Root as been one of their shining beacons.
Root, although miles behind Kohli in this chart, has been the second highest scoring batsman in the series, notching up 397 runs (avg. 49.62). Kohli was full of praise for the 25-year-old, ahead of the fifth and final Test between India and England, in Chennai.
“Joe is an outstanding player. I have been very fond of his game, the way he plays and goes about things. He is very positive,” said Kohli. “(He) always thinks of any situation as an opportunity, it’s pretty evident by the way he plays.”
Current England skipper Alastair Cook had said after the end of the fourth Test in Mumbai, that Root is ready to take over the leader of the England Test.
When asked whether Root has it in him to become the next captain of the England cricket team Kohli said, ”Joe looks like the guy who has the temperament to do it, to be honest.
“But you can only tell when he actually gets into the scheme of things and how he reacts to it himself only he can answer that question but whatever I have seen of him as a player and the way he conducts himself,” he said. “He has been a great batsman for England and he is equipped enough to handle that job as well.”
However, Kohli also said that the apex leadership role in the team brings with it, different kind of rigours.
“Captaincy is not just about handling 11 guys or 10 more guys on the field or having squad and interacting with the management,” said Kohli.
“It comes in with a whole package of interacting with media, having people expect things out of you in a very different way, having the wholes of the whole country to be honest on your shoulders as far as this sport is concerned,” he continued. “So it’s very different to how individuals react to it.”
