'Don't have to go through motions, we have to do something...": Bhuvneshwar Kumar on Virat's Test captaincy style

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], May 7 (ANI): Indian and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) pace veteran Bhuvneshwar Kumar on Wednesday opened up on playing Test cricket under captaincy of star batter Virat Kohli, saying that his "hunger" rubbed onto everyone in the team and the message was not to "go through the motions, but to do something" on the field.
Bhuvneshwar was speaking in a video posted by RCB's official X handle, a team where he is playing alongside Virat. Bhuvneshwar represented India in Tests from 2013-2018 on 21 occasions, taking 63 wickets at an average of 26.09, with best figures of 6/82. He was at his best under Virat, playing nine Tests and taking 33 wickets at an average of 22.09 and an economy rate of 2.78. The 2018 tour to South Africa till this day is his last Test outing as he moved down the pecking order due to injuries and the emergence of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and other bowlers under Virat.
On Virat's appointment as Test captain, which started during the Test tour to Australia in 2014-15, Bhuvneshwar said that the star batter's aggression fit the long format perfectly.
"The way Virat did his captaincy in the test, I'll give him credit for that. The way that transformation happened, all the credit goes to Virat. I think the reason for that is the nature of Virat on the ground. He is aggressive, we all know that. And in test cricket, you need that nature somewhere," he said.
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Bhuvneshwar said that for a good part of Test cricket on many occasions, the wicket remains flat and batter-friendly, leaving bowlers "going through the motions", but Virat was not about that.
"There is a match, there is a session, you bowl, the session is over, you come back. But I think the hunger in Virat was that we have to do something. We do not have to just go through the motions, we have to do something. We have to create chances, whatever. I think that passion of Virat, it rubbed off on everyone. Everyone started thinking that way, after the first series, after the second series. Then everyone came to one page that we have to create chances, we have to do something to win the matches," he added.
Speaking on the debut of Jasprit Bumrah during the South Africa tour 2018, which happens to be Bhuvneshwar's last Test assignment till this day, Bhuvneshwar said that he brought with him something unique.
"Because if you look at all the bowlers, Ishan, his height, his bounce, Umesh is generally fast. If we talk about Shami, his seam bowling is very special. The team it is a team game. So everyone's uniqueness, when it comes together, it makes the team special. Before Bumrah's debut, everyone was very experienced. The way Bumrah came, things must have been easy for him too. Everyone had experience, everyone was different, unique and good. So everything came together. In that time period, the Indian team was really good. So I think, that mindset of Virat, was special," he concluded.
This aggression, will to win, never-say-die attitude rubbed off to rest of his teammates too, and by the time he quit the position in 2022, he had an envious resume. In 68 Tests, he won 40, lost just 17 and 11 ended in a draw. His win percentage was 58.82, making him the most successful Test captain for India ever. In terms of win, Virat retired as the fourth-most successful Test captains ever, with Graeme Smith of South Africa (53 wins in 109 matches), Australia's Ricky Ponting (48 wins in 77 matches) and Steve Waugh (41 wins in 57 matches) above him. Virat has won the most number of Tests by an Asian captain.
Under his captaincy, India won 16 Tests away from home out of 36 Tests, five more than Sourav Ganguly (11), who held this record for most away Test wins for India as a captain previously. Under Virat, India lost away from home on 14 occasions and drew six times.
In South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia (SENA) countries, Virat won seven out of his 23 Tests, lost 13 and drew just three. If Ganguly had taught India how to fight better in overseas conditions, Virat took it a notch above, making his entire team impose their will on their opposition in their own territory, be it through bat, ball or verbal jabs/confrontations.
Virat's distant rival in SENA conditions among his countrymen was MS Dhoni (three SENA wins). While Dhoni won one each in England, New Zealand and South Africa, Virat won three in England and two each in Australia and South Africa.
Under him, India developed and refined a crop of successful fast bowlers like Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Siraj etc who had the game and belief to take 20 wickets no matter what conditions or country. Not willing to give his batting a lot of cushion, Virat preferred playing five specialist bowlers, mostly, no matter what.
Under Virat, away from home, the Indian team took 20 wickets on 22 occasions out of possible 35 occasions. Since 1990, no other Indian team that a Virat-led outfit had a bowling average of less than 30 and a strike rate of below 60 collectively. Kohli's bowlers struck gold every 52 balls and averaged just around 25 runs per wicket.
In comparison, the star-studded bowling attack of Australia under Ricky Ponting averaged 29.9 and took wickets every 58 deliveries. Six Indian bowlers picked up 100 or more wickets under Virat, with spinner Ravichandran Ashwin topping the charts with 293 scalps. Only Dale Steyn (347 wickets) under Graeme Smith has more wickets. (ANI)