“Attitude Like Viv Richards”: Laxman Sivaramakrishnan’s Peculiar Comparison For Virat Kohli

Former India spinner Laxman Sivaramakrishnan has named Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni as best captains in Test and white-ball formats respectively. Kohli had led India in 68 Tests and guided them to 40 wins with 11 draws and 17 losses. He is still the most successful captain of the format for India with a 58.82 win percentage in his tenure. Under his leadership, India maintained the top spot in the ICC Test rankings for a record 42 months. On the other hand, Dhoni donned the captain’s hat in 200 ODIs from 2007 to 2018 and led the side to 110 victories including the World Cup title in 2011. He had a record 55 per cent win record in the format, surpassing Mohammad Azharuddin’s record of 51.72 win percentage.

The cricketer-turned-commentator went on to heap praise on Kohli’s on-field attacking mindset, finding it similar to the great Vivian Richards.

“Kohli’s attacking attitude is something that he himself enjoys and celebrates. You should show your emotions. You shouldn’t be like a machine on the ground. You should have an attitude like Sir Vivian Richards who would intimidate bowlers with his eyes. Kohli’s attacking attitude and Dhoni’s calm demeanour. For me, the red ball best captain is Virat and the white ball is MS Dhoni,” said Sivaramakrishnan on Sony Sport’s Tamil Cricket Podcast – Cricket Petta.

The veteran spinner named Sunil Gavaskar as the best captain of his playing days while calling 1983 World Cup-winner Kapil Dev as an instinctive leader.

“Sunil Gavaskar was the best captain, I played under. He was very good with strategy and analytical in approach. Kapil Dev was a very instinctive captain. He will go with his gut instinct. He gave an extra over to Madan Lal in 1983, that’s instinctive captaincy,” said Sivaramakrishnan on Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev captaincy.

“With Sunil Gavaskar, you can ask for anything but you have to justify it, why you want to do it. If you do that he will give you the freedom to set your fields and plan your attack. Venkataraghavan was also an excellent captain, he was wonderful as captain,” he added.

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