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Ravi Shastri, one of Indian cricket’s most prominent voices, has once again expressed his admiration for Virat Kohli, calling him the most influential player of the last decade. In a recent video posted on Stick to Cricket, the former India head coach was asked to name the best player of the modern era. Without hesitation, Shastri responded, “It’s a young brigade at the moment, but the best player, the most influential player of the last decade – Virat Kohli.“ Shastri, who coached India during some of Kohli’s most successful years as Test captain, has long been an open admirer of the 36-year-old. His latest praise adds to a string of accolades he has directed towards Kohli in recent years. During a quick-fire segment, Shastri was also asked to name a current bowler he’d least like to face. His answer: Jasprit Bumrah. He also cheekily addressed a question about whether he’d prefer hitting six sixes or winning a World Cup—reminding viewers that he had done both in his career, before picking the World Cup win as more special.
Earlier, Shastri, in a discussion with cricketing greats like Phil Tufnell, Sir Alastair Cook, David Lloyd, and Michael Vaughan, while talking about the ongoing five-Test series in England, named his top five Indian cricketers of all time. Shastri picked legends across eras, saying, “(Sunil) Gavaskar, Sachin (Tendulkar), Virat definitely. I’m looking at the most influential players of that era. MS (Dhoni) again. So these will be the five.”
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He later completed the list by adding Kapil Dev. Shastri’s continued praise for Kohli underlines the lasting impact the batter has had on Indian cricket, both statistically and as a leader.
