That is what made you...: Gambhir HAILS Virat Kohli for transforming India's Test team after succeeding Dhoni

Virat Kohli and India head coach Gautam Gambhir engaged in a freewheeling chat ahead of Rohit Sharma andCo.'s first Test versus Bangladesh, starting on Thursday (Sep 19) in Chennai. During the chat, Kohli and Gambhir touched upon various topics and talked about how brilliantly India climbed up the ladder as a Test side in recent times, especially during the former's captaincy tenure (from 2015-2022). Under Kohli, India were unbeaten at home and won a Test series in Australia, attained an unassailable 2-1 lead over hosts England in 2021 (a series which was halted for a year and eventually ended in a 2-2 stalemate post Kohli's tenure) and won two Tests in South Africa. In addition, India reached the pinnacle of the ICC Test rankings, and held the top spot for long, before also ending as runners-up in the inaugural WTC cycle (2019-21).

Thus, Gambhir lauded Kohli for transforming India's Test side after the departure of legends such as Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, etc. Kohli, who was 26 when he succeeded MS Dhoni as Test skipper, revamped the team – which was languishing at the seventh spot back then – by building a solid pace attack, stressing on lower-order runs and focusing on taking 20 wickets every game irrespective of playing at home or away.

'When I started thinking from the point of view where Indian cricket has, solutions came'

The chat commenced with Kohli recalling his plans as a Test captainafter taking over post the departure of many stalwarts. He said, on BCCI.tv, "The thing that excited me about Test cricket and when I was coming up as captain was the challenge. We were transitioning when you guys had made way for a youngster team and Mahi bhai left Test captaincy. I was 25, so for me it was like 'I am here with a bunch of 24-25 year-old guys. How do we become household names?' We sat down and thought 'I really need to plan this out. This can't happen by chance'."

"When I started thinking from the point of view where Indian cricket has to be in 7 years' time, the solutions came. We need a group of fast bowlers. We need batters who can bat long. We need to give ownership to five batters and a keeper to get us 350-400. We can't have a seventh option. I remember the challenge excited me. I didn't feel like 'Oh my god! I don't want any part in this'. And that's when I was like I am all in," he stated.

'What you did brilliantly was that you had a really strong bowling unit'

To this, Gambhir joined in and said, "I can understand what you might have gone through. A 24-25 year-old boy taking up Test captaincy and then what you did brilliantly was that you had a really strong bowling unit. Test matches are won by taking 20 wickets. Till the time you don't have a strong bowling line-up, you won't [win]. And that is what made you the most successful Test captain in the country."

"Credit has to go to you because as a batter it is very easy to have a strong 6-7 batters putting runs on the board but the way you identified and more importantly, the attitude which you brought on the field from fast bowlers. Imagine having people like Shami, Bumrah, Ishant, Umesh and then winning overseas. I remember you playing that knock in Adelaide. We were chasing 400; it was your first game as captain, and you still wanted to win that Test match. That is the mindset, that is the culture we want to bring in," he added.

Kohli signed off with 40 wins in 68 Tests, ending as India's most successful Test skipper.

At present, Rohit-led India is commencing a hectic Test season with a two-match home series versus Bangladesh before hosting New Zealand in three Tests. After that, they will travel to Australia for a five-match Test series; i.e. the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.