Virat Kohli should keep his aggression within limits: Farokh Engineer

Former Indian wicket-keeper batsman Farokh Engineer feels Virat Kohli should keep his aggression within limits. Kohli is known for his aggressive captaincy style and he likes to take the bull by its horns. The Indian captain was involved in verbal battles against Ollie Robinson and Jos Buttler in the second innings of the Lord’s Test match.

England had tried to get under the skin of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami during India’s batting innings in the second innings. Things escalated between the two teams when Jasprit Bumrah bowled short pitched deliveries to James Anderson and the England veteran fast bowler was not at all impressed by the same.

Kohli was ready for the battle when his team came out to field and he was continuously trying to upset the England batsmen with his chatter.

Farokh Engineer said while talking to Sports Tak, “I admire Virat for that. He has been an aggressive captain. It’s good. Of course, it has to be within limits. Otherwise, the umpire or the match referee can intervene,” Engineer said.

“Maybe sometimes, yes (should he tone down his aggression?). He gets a bit too carried away, at times. But I like his aggression. He is a very good captain. I am all for it. He is I think one of the finest batsmen in the world.

“Also, they do sledging, so that your batsman lose confidence. But Bumrah and Shami were khadoos (stubborn), they replied in their own way. They couldn’t bat very well but they knew how to survive. By surviving, they got a lot of runs and those runs were very important in enabling Virat to declare the innings. That was humiliating for England,” he added.

On the other hand, Engineer recalled the time when they were sledged by the opposition during his playing days. However, the former gloveman revealed that he answered in his own style by scoring runs and letting his bat do the talking for him.

“And they began to realise that Indians are not stupid. They understood that Indians are sturdy and in no way inferior. I tried to tell them that I am not equal to you but we Indians are better than you. That’s the image I portrayed to them.

“Oh yes, they don’t like it because they are not used to getting it back. They are used to getting one way. We Indians were used to keeping quiet. But I was the first person to start giving it back to them. When you give it back to them, they start respecting you,” Engineer added.