Former India head coach names Virat Kohli the best player he coached, praises his ‘Unreal’ Innings abroad

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has hailed Virat Kohli as the best player he ever coached, praising his ability to “dominate, be the face, play hard but play fair.” Speaking in a Sky Sports YouTube, Shastri reflected on their camaraderie during their time together as captains and coaches from 2017 to 2021, and praised Kohli’s “unreal” innings in Australia, South Africa, and England.

“I would say Kohli, the batsman in his pomp, was unbelievable because in those five years when India were No. 1 in the red-ball format. Some of the innings he played in Australia, South Africa, England, across formats was unreal,” said Shastri.

Virat he said, was the player he identified as the “leader” of the team after MS Dhoni had retired.

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“Once I took over the job, and once Dhoni had finished, he did a magnificent job. I think his first skills as a batsman, his ability to dominate, be in the face, play hard but play fair, and wanting to win and take the game forward,” he added.

Speaking on his regrets as a head coach, Shastri said that while he has “no regrets whatsoever“, the team was a “little unlucky“

“We should have won an ICC trophy. In that time, we had the team to do it, but we still played some great cricket,” he concluded.

Under the Kohli-Shastri partnership, India reached the semifinals of the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup and finished runners-up in the inaugural ICC World Test Championship (2019–21), losing the final to New Zealand.

During his golden run from 2016 and 2019, Kohli ammassed 10,603 runs in 164 matches at a staggering average of 71.16, including 36 centuries, 46 fifties, and a highest score of 254 against South Africa. In Test during the same period, he scored 4,208 runs in 43 matches at an average of 66.79, with 16 centuries and 10 fifties, while leading a side featuring a formidable pace attack of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, and Umesh Yadav.

Kohli’s ability to produce match-winning knocks, especially in challenging conditions across South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia (SENA), made him one of India’s most dependable batters.

Although his white-ball form remained strong in the 2020s, his Test cricket performances dipped. He scored only three centuries in the format, average just above 30, before announcing his retirement from Test cricket in May ahead of the England tour.

( With NDTV Inputs )