Former India all-rounder Sanjay Bangar has recalled former India captain Virat Kohli’s fighting century in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2014-15 as well. He also shared that Kohli, who led India in that game, called all players into the dressing room and urged them to go for a win instead of settling for a draw as well. However, Team India suffered a 48-run loss against Australia in the first Test of BGT 2014-15 in Adelaide in December 2014 as they were bundled out for 315 while chasing a 364-run target.

On ‘The Great Indian Cricket Show’ on DD Sports, Bangar said, “India couldn’t register a win in that series, but it left an imprint that the team was trying to achieve something different. It was an extremely important tour for Virat Kohli because in 2014, he got out to Jimmy Anderson many times. If you have a bad series and then a second consecutive series goes bad, then many questions start getting raised as to whether you can maintain your place in Test cricket.”

“So he was extremely driven to improve that thing. In the first Test, when we were going for the fourth innings and the target was around 350, he called everyone into the dressing room and said we would try to chase, that we had to play for a win and not for a draw, as four sessions were still left. Some other leader might have thought about trying to draw that Test,” he again added.

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However, Sanjay Bangar was asked about Virat Kohli excelling as a batter as captain.

“Sometimes it’s a boon for a player because some players thrive with responsibility. They become even better because they want that. When Virat got the captaincy, he was ready for it. MS Dhoni said goodbye to Test cricket at exactly the right time, when the team was ready in overseas conditions,” he added.

“Before that, there were two or three slightly tough years for India. Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and VVS Laxman had retired. So the Indian team was getting settled with a new set of players. When the team got ready after that period, Virat Kohli had also started scoring good runs in international cricket,” Sanjay Bangar concluded.