Smith questions Kohli’s leadership

Johannesburg, January 23 

South Africa’s most successful Test captain Graeme Smith is not sure if Virat Kohli can be a long-term leader for India. He also feels that the star batsman’s leadership skills are not challenged enough by the team management. “I don’t know, when I look at him, if he is a long-term captaincy option for India,” said Smith.  “At the end of this year, he’d have been away from home for a while, the pressure he’ll face, the scrutiny from the press... If you’re away from home and you’re struggling for form as a team, I don’t know if I’d want to burden Virat with that... Or if India have a better leader in that environment,” said the former opening batsman.

Kohli has copped some criticism for India’s selection choices in the first two Tests. Smith feels Kohli needs a person around him who can challenge his decisions in a constructive way. “When I look at Virat, I think he needs someone in the support staff who can constructively challenge him and help him grow,” said Smith, a veteran of 117 Tests and 197 ODIs.

“He has all the abilities tactically, he knows his own game, he sets the standard in the field for everyone else. I think if he had a really constructive person in his environment, who could talk to him, make him think, maybe even challenge him with some different ideas, it would have helped.”

Kohli, Smith said, is aggressive and expressive on the field and that can affect his teammates both ways. “We all know he’s an outstanding player, his intensity really benefits his personal game, he loves that confrontation, that brings the best out of him,” Smith said.

“But sometimes as a leader you’ve got to consider how you impact others in the environment, that’s an area of his leadership that he needs to develop. He’s often at his players. But often his reaction to situations... I think that can sometimes impact on your team negatively.  “Maybe (he needs) to find a level where he can connect with all his players, to get to a level where he can get the team to be as successful as he is, that’s something that he grappling with,” added Smith. — PTI