In fact, his second innings century as stand-in captain against Michael Clarke’s men gave India a good chance of winning; his team ending up 48 runs short
Ian Chappell
Ian Chappell’s admiration for Virat Kohli kicked in when the Indian batting great notched up the first of his 30 Test centuries in the fourth and final Test of the 2011-12 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series at the Adelaide Oval in January 2012. By the time Kohli was back for Test cricket at the South Australian venue, he scored a hundred in each innings. This time, for a lost cause too, but the defeat was not as debilitating as the 2012 Test which India lost by 298 runs. In fact, his second innings century as stand-in captain against Michael Clarke’s men gave India a good chance of winning; his team ending up 48 runs short. Chappell told mid-day from Sydney on Monday that Kohli’s 141 was the best three-figure innings he had seen in a chase. “They [innings of 115 and 141] would definitely be standouts. Kohli was probably near his peak at that stage. The only other knock that would come close to Kohli’s 141 would be Ricky Ponting’s at Old Trafford [156 vs England in 2005].”
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Terrific batting approach
In his time as a player and later as a broadcaster and journalist, Chappell, the 81-year-old former Australia captain, said: “I did not see some of the old-time players, but guys like [Sunil] Gavaskar onwards, he is in that top bracket.” Chappell interviewed the finest of craftsmen throughout his broadcasting career and an interaction with Kohli Down Under a few years ago proved memorable. “I think we asked him why he didn’t dabble with the fancy shots in T20 cricket and he said he didn’t want those to creep into his game in Test cricket. So that was one outstanding bit, but it was his overall approach towards batting which was very, very good. He had a terrific approach. I don’t think I’ve heard many better than that,” Chappell revealed.
Retiring on his own terms
Chappell believed that Kohli went out on his own terms. “One of the problems in Indian cricket has always been its inability to let the stars go. In Australia, they will let you know that if you don’t move on, they are going to drop you whereas India hang on to their stars. Kohli has been able to get past the BCCI — apparently they wanted him to keep going. The important thing is that he is one of those rare India players who got out under his own terms and I think that’s terrific.”
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