ENG vs IND: Former cricketers Shane Warne, Michael Vaughan say THIS about Virat Kohli’s captaincy

Virat Kohli’s captaincy has been the talk since he took over the reins from MS Dhoni. When India lose, all want the captaincy to be given to another player while when the Men in Blue win, the praises flow in.

So soon after the win over England at The Oval, former cricketers Michael Vaughan and Shane Warne have a lot to say over Kohli’s captaincy. Former England captain Michael Vaughan has hailed Virat Kohli as an incredible leader, saying the Indian captain gave a tactical masterclass to how to win a Test match at the Kennington Oval.

The Virat Kohli-led side stormed to an emphatic 157-run win over England to take a 2-1 lead in the ongoing five-match series. Indian bowlers delivered big time on the last day of the fourth Test at the Kennington Oval on Monday as the genius of mercurial Jasprit Bumrah, and all-around performance by Shardul Thakur in the match helped visitors in defeating England by 157 runs to gain a 2-1 in the five-match series.

“Virat Kohli is an incredible leader. He’s just got this buzz of energy. He was taking the piss out of the Barmy Army with these trumpet signs. I love it. We don’t have enough characters in the game and mimicking the crowd, trying to get his own supporters going. When they came out after lunch he was getting them going. It was like he was at the end of the long jump in the Olympics trying to get the crowd going,” Vaughan told Fox Sports‘ The Back Page.

“He’s an amazing character and yesterday he gave a tactical masterclass on how to win a Test match. Those that complain are just boring. They don’t understand entertainment. We’re in the entertainment industry where we need people like Virat Kohli. We need characters,” he added.

Former Australia spinner Shane Warne has said that Virat Kohli has got the respect of the current Indian squad and that is the reason they all want to play for him and follow his lead.

“They look up to him. He’s got the respect of all the players. They back him and they play for him. It’s important for a captain that a team plays for you. I think the way Virat conducts himself, we’ve all got to say, ‘Thank You Virat’.

The way he’s led them, he’s made them believe; belief is such an important part of sports. Kohli gives his team the belief. Long live Test cricket while we’ve Virat Kohli,” Warne told Sky Sports after the fourth Test concluded.

On the final day of the Oval Test, Kohli had also mocked the Barmy Army by pretending to play the trumpet following Jasprit Bumrah’s delivery to dismiss Ollie Pope.

With the conditions good enough for batting, England openers got the hosts off to a decent start, with both scoring fifties, however, Shardul came into the attack and got rid of Burns in his first over of day 5. 

Shardul Thakur who was part of the Indian quartet in scoring more than 50 runs in the second innings, also dazzled with the ball as he sent back Joe Root to the pavilion later.

Hosts were still in the game until just after lunch on Day 5 when Jasprit Bumrah produced a glorious spell to give India a real shot at victory. India and England will now lock horns in the fifth and final Test, beginning September 10 at Manchester.