Out of favor India’s leg-spinner Rahul Chahar has showered praise on Virat Kohli’s smart tactics as the team’s leader. Chahar recalled a warm-up match against Australia ahead of the 2021 T20 World Cup. Batting first, Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell was going strong and was hitting a lot of reverse sweeps.

After discussing the field with then captain Virat Kohli, Chahar moved two fielders to third man and deep point position and thus forced the right-hander to hit somewhere else. Maxwell fell in the trap and was bowled soon after by Chahar for 37 runs off 28 balls. Chahar returned with figures of 1-17 in three overs he bowled.

Australia posted 152 runs on the board, and India was able to chase it down with 13 balls and eight wickets to spare. 

“We all know what he has achieved in life. He is a very smart cricketer. We had a discussion about the fielding position. Maxwell was hitting a lot of reverse sweeps. We wanted to have two fielders there, so he had to hit somewhere else, and he was not comfortable with that. So we did that, we took two fielders behind, he tried to hit somewhere else then and got out. That was his smartness,” Rahul Chahar said in an exclusive interview with Filmygyan. 

On the other hand, Chahar revealed that Kohli is always positive and supportive towards his players and backs them to the hilt.

“His aggression is always towards the opposition, not towards his own players. He is very supportive. He is never negative, always talks about the future. He tells us to be chill and to express ourselves, saying he is standing behind us. He tells us to lure the batters to take risks, no problem if we get hit. In that way, both Rohit and Virat are very supportive,” he said. 

“Whenever we are in the dressing room, everyone is on the same page. No one is senior and no one is junior. When the captain is aggressive, you know that he is with you,” he added.

Kohli will be in action in the three-match ODI series against England.