Michael Holding shares his advice for Virat Kohli after WTC final defeat
After the loss in the final of the ICC World Test Championship, Indian captain Virat Kohli has been getting criticism from all the nooks and corners of the cricketing world. Former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding is the latest cricket expert to come out and make a comment on the Indian skipper.
Holding, a cricketer turned commentator, expressed his views on Kohli’s intensity on the field and said that it could have an effect on his teammates. The legendary pacer also expressed that he feels that the Indian captain gets carried sometimes. During the ICC WTC final, Kohli was seen in his usual self on the cricket field, celebrating intensely and at times, having a go at the Blackcaps batsmen.
“Virat Kohli is someone who wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s someone who will let you know exactly how he feels. I think he gets a bit carried away at times, but that is Virat Kohli, that is the man,” Holding said during an interaction with the Indian Express.
The former fast-bowler compared Kohli to his colleague Sir Vivian Richards, saying that the Indian is similar to the former West Indies when it comes to expressing himself.
He’s similar to Viv Richards in that regard: Michael Holding
“He’s similar to Viv (Richards) in that regard. Viv, sometimes on the field, was over-expressive. But those are the personalities of those two gentlemen,” Holding. The ex-cricketer further noted that he feels Kohli’s teammates are on tenterhooks because of his attitude.
He advised Kohli to tone down a bit so that it can help his team relax when they are in the middle.
“As far as his captaincy, I’ve only seen India when they were touring England and I saw them in South Africa. The only thing I’d say about Virat is that he has to tone down a bit so his team can relax because a lot of them, I think, are on tenterhooks,” said Michael Holding.
Holding also talked about the rise of the stature of Indian cricket. He revealed that the Indian cricketers are quite a fitter group in comparison to their contemporaries of the past. He also reasoned that the pitches in domestic cricket in India have significantly improved which has allowed players to hone their skills properly and become better.
Michael Holding on why he has never commentated in IPL
Former legendary fast bowler Michael Holding is one of the most respected voices going around in sport. Be it speaking on racism or giving accurate information related to cricket, Holding is always upright with his views. But if there one thing that is missing from his already impressive CV is his absence from the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the commentary panel. The league started way back in 2008, but the West Indian great has not been part of the T20 league.
Over the past few years, Holding has told various platforms on how he doesn’t like T20 cricket and how it is not a proper format as compared to the other two traditional formats – Test and ODI cricket. Though, West Indies have aced the T20I format and have won two World Cups in 2012 and 2016. The cricketer-turned-commentator, though, criticized the team and feels it’s because of T20 cricket that the West Indies have slumped in Test format in recent years.
Players like Andre Russell, Kieron Pollard, Chris Gayle, and Dwayne Bravo are prominent names who have often missed an international series and gone on to play various leagues of cricket across the world. Holding blames the administrators for players choosing money over international commitments.
“Many West Indies players are not interested in playing for West Indies. When you are earning 600,000 or 800,000 dollars for six weeks, what are you going to do? I don’t blame the cricketers. I blame the administrators. West Indies will win T20 tournaments which aren’t cricket,” Holding told to Indian Express.
Michael Holding compares Virat Kohli and Viv Richards
When quizzed on his absence from the popular league called IPL, Holding didn’t mince words and told, “I only commentate on cricket.”
The 67-year-old also had a piece of advice for Indian skipper Virat Kohli and compared him to his former West Indies teammate Viv Richards. The former pace bowler pointed out similarities in behavior between Richards and Kohli and stated both were their hearts on their sleeve and are highly emotional players.
“Virat Kohli is someone who wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s someone who will let you know exactly how he feels. I think he gets a bit carried away at times, but that is Virat Kohli, that is the man. He’s similar to Viv (Richards) in that regard. Viv, sometimes on the field, was over-expressive. But those are the personalities of those two gentlemen. They can tone down a little bit as well, but then, if you are a Mustang, it’s hard to tell a Mustang to trot. He’s going to gallop,” added Holding.
