"Virat Kohli is not the captain but he's still the leader": Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah said Virat Kohli pushed every Indian cricketer to improve their fitness.

India’s ace speedster and the chief architect behind the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 triumph, Jasprit Bumrah has heaped praise on veteran batter Virat Kohli‘s leadership qualities, even when the latter isn’t the skipper anymore. The right-arm pacer also shared his thoughts about playing with modern-day chase master Kohli.

During the T20 World Cup 2024, Kohli had a forgetful tournament until the final. In the final match against South Africa, the 35-year-old notched up a brilliant half-century and bagged the Player of the Match Award.

While receiving the award, Kohli announced his T20I retirement. He will continue to play ODIs and Tests for the national side. Bumrah had a dream run with the ball in the T20 World Cup 2024 in June.

The right-arm speedster bagged 15 wickets in the tournament and was the second-highest wicket-taker for India behind left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh (17).

He is different and still the leader: Bumrah on Kohli

Former Indian captain Virat Kohli has a stunning record as a Men in Blue skipper in all formats. The 35-year-old led India in 213 matches across formats. Out of these, India won 135 games and lost 60. Kohli had a winning percentage of 68.93 as a captain.

Under Kohli, India reached the Champions Trophy 2017 final and the World Cup 2019 semi-final, which they lost to Pakistan and New Zealand, respectively. He also led the Indian Test side to the final of the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) in 2021, where they lost to the Black Caps. 

During a recent chat with The Indian Express, Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah lauded Kohli for his leadership skills and claimed that the veteran batter is still the leader of the group, despite not being the captain.

“Virat is different. He is energy-driven, he is quite passionate, he wears his heart on his sleeve. He pushed us in terms of fitness, he changed the narrative that way. Even though now Virat is not the captain of the team, he is still the leader,” Bumrah said while speaking to The Indian Express.

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