Former Australia leg-spinner Shane Warne said Virat Kohli is the ‘best leader of men’ in world cricket at the moment, while saying tactically there are other captains who can match the Indian skipper.
Kohli, in January this year, became the first ever Indian captain to lead India to a Test series win Australia. Saying that he is a huge fan, Warne told NDTV that the Indian captain is great for the game.
“There is a difference between captaincy, tactics and the leader of the team. I am a huge Virat Kohli fan,” Warne told the television news channel. “I think he is great for the game of cricket. He leads his team so well. Tactically, it’s very hard to split. I think Tim Paine, Kane Williamson from New Zealand are very good tactically as well. So I think it’s very hard to say if there are any standout captains but I would say the best leader of men at the moment is definitely Virat Kohli.”
The Aussie legend also weighed in on the MS Dhoni situation as far as the World Cup is concerned, and had no doubt that the former Indian captain should be a part of the squad travelling to England and Wales in May.
“For me, he can bat at number four, five, six depending on any situation,” Warne said of Dhoni. “So he is definitely the wicket-keeper for me in the team. You need that experience in the squad to win a World Cup. You need your big players to perform well and if India are going to win the World Cup they need Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and MS Dhoni to perform as well as guys like Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) and (Jasprit) Bumrah need to perform really well.”
The former Rajasthan Royals captain and mentor has now been appointed as the brand ambassador for the Jaipur franchise, who announced the decision along with a change of their kit colour from blue to pink for the upcoming Indian Premier League season. Warne spoke highly of the wicket-keeper batsman Sanju Samson, who will once again feature for the Royals in the 12th edition.
“I’ll be disappointed if I don’t see [Samson] play for India in all the three formats. He is so good, best young player I have seen from any country. I think he will be player of the series this IPL,” he said.
