I prefer Virat Kohli to be a little sober: Arjuna Ranatunga

Sri Lanka’s only World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga recently said that he rates Virat Kohli very highly as a batsman but there is still time to tag him as a successful Indian captain. The 53-year old expressed his views on the current cricketing scenes and the Indian skipper.

Ranatunga feels Kohli needs to tone down his aggression. He also feels that at the moment Kohli is too young and he will be a different person five years down the line. On being asked about similarities with captaincy style, the veteran said that it is still early days for the Indian skipper and he has a long road to travel. He also added that at the moment he shouldn’t be compared with Indian greats like Mohammad Azharuddin and Kapil Dev.

Advice to Mr. Kohli

On being asked, if Kohli approaches him, what advice would he give, Ranatunga said to Wisden India, “I prefer him to be a little sober. I don’t think he will agree with me, but we have a culture in our world. You take India, Sri Lanka, we have a different culture, we are not aggressive as the Australians or the English. You need to be aggressive when you have to be aggressive.”

“You don’t have to be aggressive all the time. You don’t have to show a lot of aggression as a captain all the time, that can drain through the entire system. That’s one reason why whenever I got angry, I don’t show it. I would get frustrated but I don’t show it in the middle, because it can drag into not only the team but the entire country. If he asks me a question, I’ll say calm down a little bit. He needs to be aggressive, but he doesn’t have to show it. He’s too young, he will learn. Give him five years, he will be a different actor.

The Indian skipper is currently on a roll, as India won their eighth successive Test series and are currently aiming for a whitewash against Sri Lanka. India will take on Sri Lanka in the third and final Test match at Kandy from 12th August onwards.