Hope Virat Kohli doesn’t struggle against moving ball: Mohammad Azharuddin

Captain of the Indian cricket team is one of the most scrutinised roles in the country. It’s even more challenging in the age of social media when players are directly exposed to public opinion.

Former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin said the team leader has to earn the respect of fellow players first.

“If you win, no body talks bad. But the moment you start losing, you should be ready for everything. You have to accept that and move forward.

“It has always been like this from my time or even before that. I never complained about the media scrutiny. Sometimes it goes out of hands from both sides.

“The best thing is not to take too much pressure and concentrate on the job,” said Azharuddin.

Azharuddin, who was recently credited with changing the technique of Younis Khan before the Pakistan batsman scored a double century against England, said no batsman is perfect in the world. “Everyone has a flaw. Every batsman has a weakness when the ball swings. From what I have seen as a player, there are chances that Virat Kohli might struggle against the moving ball.

“I hope that doesn’t happen. With Younis, he was playing like a joker and I did tell this to him. I told him ‘for someone who score more than 30 centuries in Tests, you can’t play cricket like this,” added Azhar.