Ravi Shastri Will Not Mind Virat Kohli Exchanging Words With James Anderson, Reckons Nasser Hussain

Headingley: India captain Virat Kohli is easily one of the fiercest competitors of the game, if not ‘the’ fiercest of them all. At Lord’s, Kohli got into a verbal duel with England’s premier pacer James Anderson. The conversation may have disturbed Anderson and the tourists made the most of it. Ex-English captain Nasser Hussain, who has admitted to being a Kohli admirer, reckoned that the Indian skipper has all the backing from coach Ravi Shastri.

Hussain feels that Shastri will not mind if Kohli gets into an altercation with an opposition player as he is very much in charge of the situation.

“Ravi Shastri, as coach, will just let Kohli go. He won’t mind seeing him exchanging words with Anderson or signalling from the balcony to try to get the players off for bad light. It is the captain who is very much in charge,” Hussain wrote in his column on DailyMail.

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Hussain also pointed out how senior players like Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane back Kohli to the hilt as well and that he believes helps.

“More significant, perhaps, are the senior players Kohli has beside him. Rohit Sharma was right there when he was complaining about the light, and both he and Rahane are integral to the tactics of India. Rohit might come across as a calm, slow heartbeat sort of guy but he is very driven to succeed too,” he wrote.

With a 1-0 lead, Kohli and Co would start firm favourites against England in the third Test at Headingley, Leeds starting August 25.