Ravi Shastri has once again highlighted the greatness of Virat Kohli, not only his batting but also praised his captaincy that changed the face of Indian cricket. Ravi Shastri-Virat Kohli era is one of the most influential stages in Indian cricket history, where he took the team to new heights.
Kohli captured India’s Test Captain in 2014-15 after MS Dhoni’s sudden retirement from the longest format of the game during the Australia tour. By 2017, the right-handed batsman had become India’s all-format captain, while Shastri took charge as a head coach.
Ravi Shastri called Virat Kohli a game-changer of Indian cricket
Together, Kohli and Shastri formed a team that dominated the house and played fearless cricket abroad, and achieved success. Under this coach-captainment era, India arrived for the inauguration of the 2017 Champions Trophy Final, 2019 ODI World Cup semi-finals and the inaugural ICC World Test Championship (WTC). Under Kohli’s captaincy, India remained at number 1 in tests for five years.
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Kohli remains India’s most successful Test captain, with a 40 Test win from 68 matches. However, after failing to take India to any ICC title, Kohli fled from captaincy in 2021-22 and then retired from T20I cricket in 2024 after winning the ICC T20 World Cup. Later in May 2025, he bid farewell to test cricket and left behind unmatched intensity and success.
Virat Kohli did a great job: Ravi Shastri
Praising Virat, Ravi Shastri said on Sky Sports, “It was very good. He (Kohli) was a person I recognized who would lead the team, and I wanted him to lead the team. Once I took over the job and once Dhoni finished, and he did a great job.”
Shastri further said, “First, his skill as a batsman, his ability to dominate, to stay on the face, to work hard, and to win and pursue the game. I would say that Kohli, Kohli, batsman in his pomp, was incredible, incredible, because in those five years, when India was number 1 in the red ball format.
“He did a great job”.
Ravi Shastri was like being a coach of India on this, while Virat Kohli was the captain pic.twitter.com/b142hmgg5i
– Sky Sports Cricket (@Skycricket) August 14, 2025
Virat Kohli gears for Australia
Well, Kohli may have stepped away from testing and T20I, but his passion for OD cricket is still getting stronger. The star batter is now fully focused on ODIs and has started preparing for the next white-ball tour of India in October.
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After postponing the tour of Bangladesh, Kohli did not waste any time to speed up his game. He was recently trained with Gujarat Titans assistant coach Naeem Amin. However, Kohli’s long -term role in ODIs is a sensitive subject. By the time the 2027 ODI World Cup arrives, it will be 39 years old, and questions about age and form are being closely monitored.
Despite this, the presence of the former Indian captain is important for India due to his experience and stability in the format. In particular, India’s tour to Australia is scheduled to begin from October 19 to 25, where Kohli will be eager to show why he is still the ODI king of India.
