Raw aggression makes Kohli like Ponting, says Brett Lee
Former Australian paceman and part-time Bollywood star Brett Lee believes that raw aggression is something that India skipper Virat Kohli has in common with legendary captain Ricky Ponting.
Ponting was a record-breaking captain while at the helm of Australia and Lee sees a parallel between Kohli and his former skipper in their attitude towards the game and style of leadership.
Lee feels that both men are intense figures who are able to effectively channel their aggression to get the best out of themselves and those under their charge.
“Everyone’s got different styles of captaincy. If you see Ricky Ponting and Virat Kohli, you could say there are some similarities between their captaincy styles. They’ve got that raw aggression, but it’s not necessarily over the top,” Lee told the Times of India.
“There have been times where every captain’s gone over the top from every nation. But I’ve enjoyed watching Kohli’s captaincy. Because real passion comes through, he wants to do really well for the team,” Lee added.
Lee said that while Ponting and Kohli have a similar style of captaincy, that isn’t the only way to lead a team in international cricket.
The former speedster used India greats Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni as examples of very different leadership styles that also brought success for their teams.
Lee said that simply being a good leader was the core attribute that an international cricket captain needs.
“I played against Dhoni and Ganguly,” Lee said. “They are once again different captains. They’ve got a different, more of a laid-back style but effective. So, you don’t have to be a captain that’s aggressive. You don’t have to be laid back. You should do whatever works for you and whatever to get the best out of your players.
“But there are guys who are great team managers in terms of the way they manage their talent amongst the team. Because that’s all a captain is all about. The captain should be a good leader. People and players should look up to them and respect them and these guys (Ganguly, Dhoni, Kohli) have definitely got that.”
Lee noted that Kohli is similar to Ponting in the sense that taking on the captaincy has not had an adverse effect on his batting.
“Apart from his captaincy, [Kohli] does well with the bat personally. He is the same as Ricky Ponting. He had that real powerful aggression but not too much. There’s a nice balance, I think. They are pretty similar when it comes to captaincy.
“And also, they’ve got a great ability to read the players. So, you think about Ponting the way he had set the fields, very attacking fields; I see the same In Kohli. Kohli is happy to attack,” the cricketer-turned-commentator added.
India are scheduled to tour Australia from December, but details of their visit have yet to be ironed out between the two boards.