Nasser Hussain recently made a statement regarding the qualities that have made the former English captain a “massive fan” of Virat Kohli. Hussain’s comments follow the Indian star’s announcement on Monday, May 12, that he would be retiring from the game’s longest format.
Hussain referred to Kohli as a “unbelievable player” and acknowledged that, in the context of Indian cricket, he was the one player who most embodied a love of the game.
“I have been a massive Virat Kohli fan over the last 14 years. His stats speak for themselves, but he was so much more than that. It was his aura, swagger, and passion. We know Indian cricket fans, and the game means so much to them. They want their captain to show them what it means to the team, and no one embodied that passion for cricket in India more than Kohli. He was an unbelievable player,” shared Hussain on a Sky Sports Cricket podcast.
He made India into the force they are today: Nasser Hussain
Nasser Hussain said that Kohli’s insistence on giving it his all each and every time he took the field would have made it difficult for him to continue in a format he loved, thereby suggesting a prolonged downturn in red-ball cricket play.
“He is the ultimate winner, he sees the end goal as a win, and he is desperate for that. Everything for Kohli is about winning. Why do you think he’s so good in run chases? He can’t go on the field and not be a hundred per cent, he can’t ever go: ‘I’ll just do my best today’. That may have formed part of his retirement decision, he doesn’t want to be a normal cricketer, just doing a little bit here and there. He made India into the force they are today.”
Nasser Hussain
India will have to play their tour of England without Kohli and Rohit Sharma. The five-match series is to begin on June 20. The team for the series remains unpublished by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
