Captain Kohli aims to mimic Australia

He might be embarking on his maiden Test tour as captain without an incumbent coach to share the leadership burden, but Virat Kohli knows the aura he wants his Indian team to exude and it stems directly from his experiences against Australia.

Despite skippering India to a narrow loss in his maiden Test as skipper when filling in for the injured MS Dhoni last December, Kohli has yet to stamp his mark on the role having appeared in just one match since Dhoni unexpectedly quit the captaincy at year’s end.

But on the eve of India’s departure for their one Test and three ODI tour of Bangladesh, Kohli has outlined his hopes for a prolonged period of dominance for the Test team he will oversee by taking a leaf from the combative, cohesive manner in which the Australians play.

“I really want to see all of us build our Test careers together,” Kohli said in an interview with ESPNcricinfo’s ‘The Cricket Monthly’.

“I really want to see we have the same sort of friendships, those bonds that the Australian teams have had in the past.

“On the field if you see them play, you feel like, ‘Damn, that's a unit, we really have to play our bloody best to beat these guys’.

“I want that to happen to Indian cricket.

“In Test matches we want to be the team to beat.

“I know we have the capability. It is just the mindset, sometimes we tend to go into that zone where the thinking is not right, and that happens to everyone, including myself, a lot.

“We just need to stick together as a unit.”

The mindset that Kohli is looking to bring to an India team that Dhoni led a record 60 times from 2008-2014 was clearly visible in the 26-year-old’s approach to his first Test as captain in Adelaide six months ago.

Not only was Kohli fined 30 per cent of his match fee for instigating a heated exchange with Australia batsman Steve Smith, he led his team’s audacious but ultimately unsuccessful charge for victory on the final day with a memorable innings of 141 in four and a half hours.

It represented a significant shift in strategy for a team that – facing similar situations previously – would have looked to play out a draw rather than run the risk of defeat in the pursuit of an unlikely victory.

In a rare one-on-one interview with cricket.com.au during India’s World Cup defence that followed that Test series earlier this year, Kohli confirmed that his approach and that of his team on that final day in Adelaide was a foretaste of the way India will play under his Test captaincy. 

Kohli speaks ahead of India's World Cup semi-final against Australia

“Definitely, I believe in that big time,” Kohli said when asked if Adelaide provided a preview of his Test match philosophy.

“We wanted to be on the ball from the first delivery that was bowled and the way we played on that last day (In Adelaide) was a bit of a surprise for everyone who was watching and back home as well, and it was appreciated in a way that pleased me personally a lot.

“On the fourth day when we went into the changeroom before leaving for the hotel I told the guys ‘as far as I know this Australian team they are going to give us time to bat tomorrow and it might happen first thing in the morning’.

“So I want everyone to go in the rooms today thinking that whatever the target tomorrow we are going for the win, we want to go for the target,

“We want to chase it, there’s no second thoughts.

“So I think that was the mindset that we went in with, and the way the guys played that day it was mixed with emotion and passion and a vision that we wanted to achieve something.

“I strongly play my cricket like that and I believe in all those things.

“So you will see more of that in future as well.” 

Kohli's magic 141 in Adelaide

India has produced a string of indifferent Test performances of late, having won a solitary Test (against England at Lord’s last July) and suffering seven defeats from 13 matches over the past 18 months.

While they are expected to account for Bangladesh in next week’s one-off Test at Fatullah – given the Tigers have won only six Tests in the past decade (against Zimbabwe and the West Indies) and have never defeated their western neighbour – Kohli has long-term ambitions for his team.

Among them is to foster a strong sense of camaraderie and communal pride among a player group that has suffered its share of criticism for being – at times – disunited and too easily dispirited.

“I strongly want to see the Indian team dominate for at least five or six years," Kohli told The Cricket Monthly.

“We certainly have the talent. We certainly have the ability.

“All that it will take is how you manage that and keep them together.

“What I want to see happening is all our Test careers growing together.

“When you talk about the camaraderie, the combinations, the unity and the energy you got looking at the successful Australian teams, most of them started together and by the time their careers finished there were seven or eight legends (in a team).

“Before that you had that in West Indies, where Viv Richards, Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshall, who were all of similar age and ended up becoming legends.

“Those are the things you crave as a cricketer.

“You want to be the team which enjoys each other's company, which enjoys playing anywhere in the world, which enjoys success together, sticks around in failures together.

“I want that to happen. And I am really certain that will happen.”