Virat Kohli’s passion for the game is irreplaceable: Kaif

New Delhi: Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif believes the side may find a batter who can replace the recently-retired Virat Kohli in the Test team, but replacing that passionate spirit showcased by the talismanic batter of playing the longer format will be hard to produce.

“Many people believe we will never be able to replace Virat Kohli but I don’t think so. I have seen Sunil Gavaskar then Sachin Tendulkar and then Virat Kohli. Given the mass of talent India has and has received through the Indian Premier League, a lot of players emerge every year.

“We may be able to replace Virat Kohli - The batter, but we will never be able to replace Virat Kohli - The passionate player, the passion he showed on the ground, the energy after each ball, the sledging he produced, we may not be able to replace that player. We have got Shubman Gill, Reddy scored a century, KL Rahul’s comeback, Rishab Pant is fantastic in Tests and Yashasvi Jaiswal,” said Kaif in an exclusive conversation with IANS on Wednesday.

“You see Gill’s coolness and calmness in the IPL but Virat Kohli had a different aura, he used to carry the flag on his chest. We may not be able to find that passion again. He used to want to win at all costs, encouraging the players to be aggressive, and asked his time to rain hell on his opponents.

“The sacrifices he made for the country, his fitness across the five days, we may not be able to ever replace that. The entire world has acknowledged him after his retirement, everyone is singing his praises. Whenever he came onto the field he did it to win, he never played for a draw whether as a player or as a captain which is a lesson for the youngsters,” concluded Kaif.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan highlighted the significant void left by Virat Kohli in Test cricket, describing him as the most pivotal figure in the format over the past three decades.

“More than 30 years, I don’t believe there is any individual who has done more for the Test format than Virat. Test cricket would have been a far blander place without him, and there is a chance it would have lost its appeal if he had not been as interested and invested in it,” Vaughan wrote.

He drew a sharp contrast between Kohli’s tenure and that of his predecessor MS Dhoni, acknowledging Dhoni’s greatness in white-ball cricket but pointing out a lack of visible Test passion under his leadership. “When he (Kohli) took the captaincy just over a decade ago, I was worried India was losing interest in Test cricket. The game needs India to be madly in love with Test cricket, and that is what Virat fostered as captain,” he wrote.

Vaughan fondly remembered Kohli’s riveting contests with England pace legend James

Anderson, especially their duel at Edgbaston in 2018. He added, “Jimmy often had the wood over Kohli and with him gone, I thought he’d come out and play with a real flamboyancy this summer. We haven’t seen much of that from him in England; it’s been more about his defensive strength, skill, touch, technique, and patience. In other parts of the world, he played with unbelievable aggression.”

R Sridhar, the former India men’s team fielding coach, said he was left shell-shocked over Virat Kohli suddenly announcing his retirement from Test cricket. Sridhar added that he was fortunate to have been in the national set-up when Kohli was India’s Test captain from 2015 to 2021, and eventually became the country’s most successful captain in the longer format.