'You Needed To Reach His Level': Robin Uthappa Slams Virat Kohli's 'Exclusive' Style Of Captaincy (Photo credit: ICC)
Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa has said that Virat Kohli's style of leadership was different to the extent that every player needed to reach his level, criticising him in a scathing comment over the former skipper's captaincy. He also compared Kohli's leadership to that of Rohit Sharma, who is under immense pressure after India's defeat in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Notably, under Kohli, the Indian team was expected to reach the utmost levels of fitness and most players complied with it.
While Kohli came to be known as one of the fittest and most agile athletes in the world, the fitness levels among players increased considerably and it was visible in on-field performances.
“Virat’s style of captaincy was different to the extent that you needed to reach his level. Whether it was fitness, whether it was eating habits, whether it was listening, or agreeing, all of that had to happen at that standard," Uthappa said while speaking to Lallantop.
"There are two different types of leaders. There are leaders, who say this is the standard needed. Some leaders say I will meet you where and I will elevate you to the standards I need you to be. Both work and both get results but the impact on the personnel will be different. One will value a lot and the exclusive one will feel let down a lot," Uthappa added.
The former Indian cricketer claimed that Kohli had a role to play in putting Yuvraj Singh out of contention for the Indian team. Uthappa said that Kohli didn't give Yuvraj enough time to make a perfect return to the Indian team and was not given leniency in the fitness tests.
Comparing Kohli's captaincy style to Rohit's, Uthappa said that while the former's captaincy style is exclusive, Rohit's player's template is inclusive.
Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from Cricket, Sports and around the world.
