'We tried to be better versions of ourselves' - KL Rahul reflects on high standards set by Virat Kohli as captain

KL Rahul, the talented Indian cricketer, has had the privilege of playing under the leadership of three exceptional captains in his international cricket career: MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma. In a recent YouTube podcast with BeerBiceps, Rahul reflected on his experiences with these leaders and shared valuable insights into their distinct leadership styles.

Rahul began by paying homage to MS Dhoni, acknowledging him as his first captain and a great leader. He spoke highly of Dhoni's calmness and his ability to build relationships with each team member. Rahul emphasized the importance of fostering a strong bond within the team, where players are motivated to fight and stand beside their captain. He learned from Dhoni that building such relationships is essential to create a cohesive unit that strives for success.

“I have been captained by such great leaders, starting with MS Dhoni, while he was playing, you know he was the captain, he was my captain, my first captain. I have seen how he handled the team and his calmness, the things that he does behind the scenes like building a relationship with each person are something that I have learned from him. You know, you need to build a relationship where these boys will fight for you and will be with you. That is something I learned from him,"

Moving on to Virat Kohli, Rahul acknowledged the significant impact the charismatic captain had on the Indian team during his tenure. He commended Kohli's passion and aggression, which he brought to the team. Under Kohli's leadership, the Indian team achieved remarkable statistics, setting the bar incredibly high. Rahul expressed that Kohli's approach of leading from the front and pushing players to be the best versions of themselves inspired the entire team. Kohli instilled the belief that mediocrity was unacceptable, motivating players to work on their fitness, diet, and overall improvement. The results achieved during Kohli's captaincy were a testament to the culture of excellence he fostered.

“Then Virat Kohli was our leader for six-seven years and the thing is that the Indian team did under him, the stats are there to be seen and it was phenomenal. the passion, the aggression brought in, he set the standard really high, and his way of leading and captaining was like leading from the front and showing the team how to achieve greatness. He did that and we all jumped on board, we got inspired by the things that he was doing and we tried to be a better version of ourselves and that is something that Virat created and gave each player the power or the realisation to do that you don’t have to settle for mediocre. You can push yourself to be better, work on your fitness, work on your diet, and the small things as a team we didn’t pay enough attention to, we started paying attention to all these things and I think the results were under Virat were because of that," he added.

Rohit Sharma is sharp - Rahul

Rahul then shifted his focus to Rohit Sharma, the current captain. He lauded Sharma's astute leadership skills, highlighting his meticulous preparation, strategic thinking, and deep understanding of the game. Rahul was impressed by Sharma's ability to analyze each player's strengths and weaknesses and formulate effective strategies accordingly. Sharma's commitment to preparation and his profound comprehension of the game stood out to Rahul.

"Rohit Sharma, who is like so sharp as a leader, his strategies, he does a lot of homework before the game, he knows each person's strength and what he will do and he's put under pressure, where you need to attack him or where are the flaws in his technique and like he really good at strategies and understanding the game. All these things are the things I have learned from these people," Rahul concluded.