Dubai: Virat Kohli will grow into his role of India captain and should be given a chance, according to legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev.
Kohli has already taken over as India’s Test captain following M.S. Dhoni’s retirement from the longer format in December last year and is tipped to take the One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) mantle as well. There is, however, an element of concern in some quarters as to whether the 26-year-old has what it takes to handle the role long term given Kohli’s temperament.
Last month he abused a reporter during the ICC World Cup and during the third Test against Australia in Melbourne in December, he got into a war of words with Mitchell Johnson. Perhaps his most memorable lack of composure was showing his middle finger to Australian supporters during the second test at Sydney in January 2012.
Despite this, Dev, who captained India to World Cup victory in 1983, believes hot-headed Kohli would gain grace with age. “No captain is mature enough when he takes over a captaincy,” said Dev, who is in Dubai playing in the Icons Cup all-star charity golf tournament at Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club this week. “Only over a period of time do they get mature.
“Look at Allan Border, Ricky Ponting or Steve Waugh, they weren’t very mature [at the beginning of their captaincies] but once they start doing the captaincy, they become much better.
“Only time will tell, it’s difficult to say who’s right or who’s wrong but you have to give the youngster a chance.”
Asked if Kohli was the best choice, Dev - who took 434 wickets and made 5248 runs in 131 Test matches for India between 1978 and 1994 - replied: “Do you have any other names?
“That’s the only name we have and he’s been vice-captain and has been hanging around there, so that’s the right person.”
And as to whether Kohli was the people’s choice, Dev added: “That’s not important, it’s the selectors choice, people who play cricket, if they think that’s good enough, that’s good enough.”
Kohli’s often volatile temperament is offset by his precocious talent, making him a flawed genius of sorts. In one-day cricket, he holds the record for the fastest century by an Indian batsman off 52 balls against Australia in Jaipur in October 2013. He is also the fastest to reach 17 ODI hundreds and is the fourth Indian batsman behind Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Dhoni to hit over 1000 runs in three or more consecutive calendar years.
