Jacques Kallis and Virat Kohli were teammates in RCB © Getty Images
From Steve Waugh to Ian Chappell; Glenn McGrath to Sunil Gavaskar — of late, Virat Kohli has been praised for his leadership skills by the greats of the game. Now Jacques Kallis, the former South African all-rounder and Kohli’s former teammate in Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) has became the latest member to join this elite list. Kallis feels Kohli is ready to take over from MS Dhoni as captain of India in the limited-overs formats, like he did in the Tests. “I am sure Virat has the ability to lead India in all three formats. He will have to start somewhere, and take over from MS [Dhoni],” Kallis told The New Indian Express, ahead of South Africa’s tour of India. READ: What to expect from the Virat Kohli era of Indian cricket!
In coloured clothings, under Dhoni, India haven’t performed too badly recently; they reached the semi-final of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 in Downunder. But, the South African is ready to experiment with Kohli. He feels this is the right time for Kohli to take over, “Only time will tell whether this move will work or backfire, but he comes across as a player who thrives under pressure. So Virat is the right choice, and he must give it a go.” READ: Shikhar Dhawan: Virat Kohli an aggressive captain but in good way
Dhoni hasn’t played any international cricket since India’s 1-2 series loss against Bangladesh in July 2015. Whereas, Kohli, after skipping the Zimbabwe tour, came back strongly both as a player and leader, guiding India to a 2-1 series victory against Sri Lanka in August. Kallis believes, the burden of captaincy won’t effect his batting. “Virat is a very strong batsman, and knows how to tackle pressure. I think he is ready to handle every situation,” the South African legend said. READ: Ravichandran Ashwin best off-spinner in the world, says Ravi Shastri
Talking about South Africa’s chances in the upcoming tour of India, Kallis said, “India are a good team, especially at home. I will not read much into their series win against Sri Lanka. But I am happy that we [South Africa] will be playing a full length four-match Test series. My experience says, in a four-game series, the side that plays the best brand of cricket, wins. So it will be an interesting series for sure.” South Africa’s tour will last all of 72 days, including three T20 Internationals (T20Is), five One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and four Test matches, and it’s the first time a full length Test series is being played in India since Australia’s tour in 2013. READ: Virat Kohli’s first win as Test captain vindicates ‘aggressive’ approach
Handling the spinners, has been one of the difficulties that the South African batsmen have faced while touring in the sub-continent. But Kallis thinks this time the Proteas are well prepared. “I am sure we will be able to tackle Ravichandran Ashwin and Amit Mishra. We have tamed Indian spinners in the past, and we should be able to do it again. Let’s wait and watch.” READ: South Africa will pose big challenge to India, feels Sourav
The former South Africa all-rounder has high expectations from Dale Steyn, who is probably touring India for a bilateral series for the last time of his career. “In my eyes, he is one of the greatest fast bowlers to have played the game. If Dale Steyn and other bowlers perform, then this could be the deciding factor. I believe bowlers will have the final say.”
Amongst the Indian bowlers, Kallis expects Ishant Sharma to do well. The series will kick off from October 2 with T20I at the picturesque HPCA stadium of Dharamsala.