'I would say Kohli the batsman in his pomp was unbelievable because in those five years when India were No 1 in the red ball format, some of the innings he played in Australia, South Africa, England across formats were unreal.'
Former coach Ravi Shastri praised Virat Kohli's tenure as India's captain, stating that he did he a 'magnificent job' both as a skipper and a batter.
Kohli, who took over the Test captaincy in 2014, has captained India in the most Test matches. Under him, India won 40 of 68 Tests played for a success rate of 70.17 -- the highest among India's captains.
He formed a very successful partnership with Ravi Shastri, who took over as the head coach in 2017 as the duo guided India to the No 1 Test ranking.
'It was great. I mean he was the one man whom I identified who will lead the team and I wanted him to lead the team. Once I took over the job after Dhoni had finished, he (Kohli) did a magnificent job,' Shastri told Sky Sports Cricket.
'I think, first his skills as a batsman, his ability to dominate, be in the face, play hard and wanting to win and take the game forward.'
'I would say Kohli the batsman in his pomp was unbelievable because in those five years when India were No 1 in the red ball format, some of the innings he played in Australia, South Africa, England across formats were unreal,' added Shastri.
Shastri, 63, believes new captain Shubman Gill will be the next superstar from India.
'No question Shubman Gill. He will be around for a long, long time because we have seen what kind of series he had here (in England). He is just 25 years of age and with his exposure he will get even better. He is right up there, he will be up there, he is composed. He is very regal, when you look at him he has something regal about him the way he bats, he is very easy on the eye, very fluent and has the ability to play the long innings.'
Shastri says India's back to back series victories in Australia were the highlights of his coaching tenure.
'Beating Australia in Australia twice in a Test series which will take some beating.'
At the same time, he has no regrets. 'No regrets whatsoever. If anything you could say we were a little unlucky, we should have won an ICC trophy in that time. We had the team to do it but... we still played some great cricket.'
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