Indian skipper Virat Kohli
Former Indian cricketer Ashish Nehra on Monday, in an interview with his former Delhi teammate Aakash Chopra, talked about the various captains he played under before talking about the incumbent Indian captain Virat Kohli.
Nehra has played under as many as six different captains - Mohammad Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, MS Dhoni, Kohli. But he played the most under Ganguly and Dhoni. Hence when asked about the captaincy differences, he admitted that as a player he would only be able to differentiate between Ganguly and Dhoni but for Kohli, he could only speak from the perspective of a commentator or a coach.
Nehra feels that Kohli's captaincy is still a work in progress and that he is an impulsive captain. He also added that unlike many he would not want to change Kohli's on-field aggressive nature, but advised him to be careful with his decision-making. "His aggressive nature on the field is impressive. Won't say I would change anything about that," he said.
Nehra then went on to explain the differences in captaincy between Ganguly and Dhoni, and the challenges they faced whilst in the role.
The veteran praised Dhoni for impressively leading a team of seniors, while he hailed Ganguly for backing youngsters immensely.
"Every captain is different. I have played the most under MS Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly. Rahul Dravid was also there but wasn't there was long. Under Virat Kohli, I played only a few series. So I can only explain the differences in captaincy for Dhoni and Ganguly as a player. For Kohli, I can only do that as a coach or as a commentator, not as a player. For Ganguly, there was a new team that he was building. Dhoni had the advantage that Gary Kirsten was the coach and the team was ready. But he had the challenge of leading a team of seniors. Ganguly had the challenge of leading a group of youngsters and backed the players immensely. Dhoni is a very calculative captain. He too backed players. But the way he handled the seniors was amazing," he explained.
