India Test captain Virat Kohli, while addressing a press conference for the first time on the tour of South Africa, talked at length about the pace turnaround for the team in Test cricket. He acknowledged the role of pacers in starting India's good run in overseas conditions in Tests since 2018.
Kohli, under whom the pace-bowling revolution in India's Test fortunes began, explained in detail how the evolution began. "We all look back at that phase very fondly. It's hard to believe when I look back at the screenshots of the time that I became the Test captain, we were number seven in the world. I mean, to be fair, we can't even relate to that reality anymore because we've been number one for 4-5 years in a row now."
Kohli revealed the attributes in creating a formidable pace force of the Indian team. "It's been the collective commitment, passion and almost a madness of the whole squad. But I had to lay down a vision and path that we needed to follow and probably lead from the front in that regard because I knew that I will have to kind of play with a very high intensity to be able to drive this passion, motivation and environment in the team where we are looking to arrive on the field everyday of a Test match and be optimistic that we can win from any situation because if you don't have that passion, commitment and that madness to almost just give everything out there in Test cricket, you cannot calculate your way out of situations in Test matches."
