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Virat Kohli’s honesty as a captain praised by Ravichandran Ashwin

Virat Kohli is the skipper of India in the Test format, with MS Dhoni leading the side in ODI's and T20I's

Ravichandran Ashwin took 10 wickets in IPL 2016 © AFP
Ravichandran Ashwin took 10 wickets in IPL 2016 © AFP

Indian spinning stalwart Ravichandran Ashwin has praised Virat Kohli’s leadership, terming him as an thorough captain. Kohli skippers Team India in the Test format, with MS Dhoni leading the team in ODI’s and T20I’s. And Ashwin, who has been playing under Dhoni’s captaincy in IPL since its inception, praise his Test skipper. Kohli was sublime with his bat as well as captaincy in IPL 2016. He ended the tournament as the leading run-scorer with 973 runs and guided Royal Challengers Bangalore to a final berth. But his team were outdone in the final by Sunrisers Hyderabad, who won their first IPL title. ALSO READ: Ashwin at No. 2 position in ICC Rankings

And Ashwin heaped praises on the RCB skipper for his leadership. Hindustan Times reported him saying, “Virat is a very thorough captain. He does his homework before the game. We do a lot of team meetings before the game, there’s a lot of honesty around. That gives me the confidence and interest while going out on the field.”

“He gives me enough freedom to express myself and take control of what fields I want to set and how I want to bowl. These are the kind of conversations we have and conversations generally lead to lot of clarity. There’s a lot more clarity around. I’m sure we’ll face challenges over the next few years and we’ll try and find out more and more about each other.” ALSO READ: Virat Kohli named CEAT T20 Cricketer of the Year

He also spoke about his Test form, where he is ranked No.2 in the ICC Bowler’s rankings. “I’m really grateful for the fact that I’ve been picked for the West Indies tour squad. Rankings don’t come into my mind when I go out there and play. I’m just looking forward to a good tour. This will be some sort of a new beginning for the team; it’s probably the third tour away from India under Virat Kohli. We’re looking forward to it. We’ve played some quality Test cricket and we’re looking to carry on with it.”

Ashwin also spoke about satisfaction with his displays in IPL 2016. “Personally, I had a good IPL. If you look around at the spinners I think I was one of the most economical at 7.25. I picked up 10 wickets as well for whatever I could create in the game. I bowled far lesser overs compared to the other seasons.”

“I did a decent enough job. But there were a couple of times where the game was on the line and I would have definitely liked to break the game at such situations, but I personally and the team did not have the opportunity as we had a bad season.”

Finally, he gave his views on the next Indian coach. “It is job that will involve a lot of scrutiny. As players we have the responsibility of working closely with whoever is being given that opportunity. We need to make sure that our goal in one. I would not like to speculate over names.”

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