Dinesh Karthik, a cricketer-turned-commentator, said that Virat Kohli previously stated that his genuine delight in cricket comes not from personal achievements, but from leading the Indian team, particularly while wearing national whites. Kohli, who retired from Test cricket in May 2025, declared that captaining India in red-ball cricket was the pinnacle of his career, despite the fact that many consider him a legendary batsman in the sport.
Karthik pointed out that current captain Shubman Gill has a similar sentiment. He complimented the 25-year-old for prioritising team success over individual goals, demonstrating a mature and selfless leadership style.
“Athers [Michael Atherton], you mentioned Virat Kohli.
I met him a few days ago, and this conversation regarding leadership came up. He stated that people think I’m an excellent Test cricketer. I enjoyed my Test batting, but getting my leadership was the finest thing that happened in my life,” Karthik remarked during a Sky Sports interview with other analysts.
Gill took up the captaincy from Rohit Sharma and has fully adopted a selfless leadership style. He not only led India to a dominant 336-run victory at Edgbaston, levelling the series, but he also delivered emphatically with the bat. Gill has 430 runs in the Edgbaston Test alone, and a total of 585 runs over two matches at an impressive average of 146.25, including two centuries and a double century.
“Why am I saying this? Shubman Gill used the same line. He stated, “I used to bat differently.” But now that I’m captain, I almost think this is what my team needs while I’m batting, rather than wanting to accomplish something individually as a hitter, which I felt was amazing,” Karthik added.
Gill’s captaincy career is progressing smoothly, and parallels to Kohli have increased following his outstanding performance at Edgbaston. Gill became the first cricketer to score a double century and a 150 in the same Test. Karthik praised Gill’s maturity and willingness to adapt his batting approach to the demands of the team, attributes that Kohli shown throughout his own captaincy tenure.
“Now, the cricket world needs to take attention, because here’s a nan with the appetite, skill, and technique. But now he has the mindset of, “I am a captain.” I am going to lead from the front, off the front foot. And we saw it in the last Test match. I’m confident there will be many more Test matches in which we may watch him. But it appears he’s on the right track,” Karthik concluded.
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