Former Australia skipper Michael Clarke has said Virat Kohli's aggression and leadership has had a "great" effect on the Indian cricket team's successful run in the recent past. He added that Australia need to be in top form to stop the Men in Blue from winning the upcoming five-match ODI series, starting September 17 in Chennai.
Under Kohli, India have gone on to become world beaters in all formats of the game. The Indian cricket team dominated top teams, including England, New Zealand and Australia, in the home season of 2016/17. The Delhi dasher also led the team to the final of the Champions Trophy 2017 earlier this year.
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The Indian skipper has led from the front with some fine performances with the bat. Apart from scoring 449 runs at 44.90 in Tests this year, Kohli has smashed quite a few records in ODIs and has gone past the 1000-run mark. With four centuries in 2017, he stands next only to Sachin Tendulkar in the list of most number of ODI tons (49). Kohli has 30 ODI tons.
"He [Kohli] has been phenomenal in all three formats, to be honest. But ODI statistically has really been a standout. His leadership has been great for Indian cricket. He is showing aggression and the team is following him," Clarke told "Sports Tak" Youtube channel.
He added: "As a captain, you want to lead from the front on the field and make sure you are scoring runs. At the moment, Virat is certainly doing that. He is showing every batsman in the team what is required to help the team get back to being number one in the world in the ODI format."
'India on a high'
Clarke also acknowledged that India will be on a high going into the upcoming ODIs, especially after thrashing Sri Lanka last month.
Kohli's men were at their dominant best in Sri Lanka as they went on to whitewash the hosts in Test, ODI and the T20I series, thereby winning all nine matches on their recent tour to the island nation.
However, the 36-year-old believes ODI cricket has always been Australia's strength and that Steve Smith's men will compete hard with Kohli and Co.
"It is going to be a great series. Everytime Australia plays India, it's very competitive. This Australian team though needs to find some momentum. They have not played as well as they would have liked over the past four months in Test cricket. ODI cricket though has been Australia's strength," Clarke said referring to Australia's Test defeat in Bangladesh last month.
"That said, India are coming off a high, beating Sri Lanka in all three formats. So these ODIs and T20Is are a good opportunity for Australia to get a win and build some momentum for the Australian summer back home," the former Pune Warriors star opined.
