Exclusive: There is a danger if you change someone like Virat Kohli, says David Gower

Dubai - The former England captain opens up on Kohli's aggressive style of captaincy

David Gower once enthralled the aesthetes with his majestic left-handed stroke-play. To see the golden-haired Gower in his pomp, playing the cuts and pulls, is akin to watching the most graceful tennis player of all time, Roger Federer, on Wimbledon centre court.

No wonder then that Gower is a huge admirer of the Swiss maestro who he could watch for hours on the telly. The former England captain adores all athletes, but those blessed with timing and elegance hold a special place in his heart.

One of the most prolific English Test batsmen in history, Gower will also be following the fortunes of Joe Root’s men who will take on Virat Kohli’s India in a five-Test series – a prologue to this year’s Ashes Down Under.

In an exclusive interview with Khaleej Times, Gower analysed the two teams’ strengths and weaknesses and also opened up on Kohli’s aggressive style of captaincy.

The 64-year-old Gower also reflected on his journey as a broadcaster after his retirement from the game and how it has allowed him to enjoy and appreciate the new crop of talents.

England’s five-match Test series against India begins in Nottingham on August 4. Which team have the advantage? You know both teams’ strengths and weaknesses…

First of all, it should be a great series. Secondly, there is an element of England needing desperately to bounce back, having lost to India (3-1) recently. Thirdly, pitches and conditions would be very different to at least three of the Test matches played in India. And the whole experience of winning in Australia stands them (India) in hugely great stead. But you have the duke balls, the pitches, I don’t think the pitches would be left entirely green. I think there are commercial aspects here, I think pitches will have a little bit of grass. There will be swing, so the batsmen have to cope with that. But let’s face it, England’s batting is having a bit of a rough time. So if you have conditions that are good for English seamers, they will be good for Indian seamers. India have probably the more balanced team. They have also someone like Rishabh Pant. Whether or not he plays exactly the same way he did in India, it remains to be seen. But he has a huge talent. And Virat, of course, is outstanding. When I watched him last time in England, he played brilliant cricket. But the only worry for me is that the English batting at the moment is experiencing issues of confidence.

Playing a top team like India would be ideal for England ahead of this year’s Ashes…

It’s an important series, and it’s a series England know they have to win. They need to, I mean forget about all the talk of preparing for the Ashes, although the Ashes retain their historical importance. It’s always huge, of course. But India are a mighty fine side and forget the Ashes, you have to work very, very hard to beat a side as good as India. So that’s the immediate priority.

Barring Kohli’s stupendous display in the 2018 Test series in England, Indian batsmen have struggled in the English conditions in the last 10 years. What would you tell them if any of the Indian batsmen seek your advice?

Well, it’s not going to happen (smiles). I know what’s more likely to happen, they will look at Virat who is the perfect example of someone who struggled two tours ago (in 2014) and worked very hard and got runs (in 2018). For instance, the judgement of when to leave the ball when it is moving (is important). The more time you spend there, the easier it gets, your judgement gets better. So it’s largely about surviving. Ravi (Shastri) will also pass on the wisdom of playing county cricket. But the two key elements when you are playing against the swinging ball or the seaming ball is the ability to leave the right one and the ability to play late.

Kohli wears his heart on his sleeve. His exuberance while celebrating a wicket draws criticism every time India lose and starts a debate on whether a captain should be more restrained on the field….

I think there is a danger if you try and change someone like Virat Kohli who is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the major stars of world cricket in this era. What makes him good is that passion, one of the many things that makes him good is that passion and aggression because some people have it more controlled, more inside them, he shows what’s going on very much from the outside. And I think the danger is when you take something away from someone, something that is very instinctive, very natural to them then you might hamper decision-making. If you tone things down, one of the things that makes a good captain is the ability to be sharp, to be ahead of the game, to be thinking positively about what the next move is. I think the golden rule whenever you are leading a team is not to put someone else’s costume on and pretend to be someone else. You have to be true to yourself, otherwise, the people in your dressing room will say, ‘hey, hang on, that’s not him. Why is he doing this? That’s not him’. I would assume that the Indian dressing room understands Virat and likewise, he understands them. And let’s face it, they are a very, very good team and he is a very, very good player. So I would not want to tinker with that, just for the sake of appearances.

As you said, Kohli is an outstanding batsman. But this era has seen some other superb batsmen like Kane Williamson, Steve Smith and Joe Root. Where would you put them on the list of great batsmen you have seen and played with and against? You played against names like Viv Richards, Sunil Gavaskar, Greg Chappell and then you saw Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar…

It’s always one of the hardest questions. I think you have to go era by era. I mean all those people we have talked about, all those names you mentioned just now. Viv was probably the most outstanding batsman I played against in Test cricket. His namesake, Barry, who didn’t get to play that much Test cricket, was an extraordinary player. He would have been a phenomenal player had South Africa been eligible to play. Lara was an extraordinary player, Tendulkar, an extraordinary number of runs. And nowadays, I would say put them all in the same league because Virat, Williamson, Root, their averages are pretty much in the same sort of sphere. But I think one of the great joys about being a lover of the game, and judge of the game, is that you can factor in more than just figures. No one looks at the simple average nowadays. You talk about match-winners, you talk about entertainers, you talk about stylists, and also these same players are playing all formats. And there is a name we left out, AB de Villiers, you know, because he stepped back from Test cricket, doesn’t get mentioned in the same way anymore. But AB at his best in all forms was just brilliant. I did write a book some years ago, which was on the 50 greatest cricketers of all time. It was one of the hardest things I have done. My view is you have to enjoy each and every one of them for their individual talents, their unique talents, and make the most of it as a television viewer, as a broadcaster, as a fan, just enjoy them.

As a broadcaster, you are certainly enjoying the sport even 30 years after your retirement. You were even in UAE a couple of months ago to commentate on the Pakistan Super League, watching the new crop of Pakistani talent. It must be such a privilege to be still involved with the game and watching the new talents flourish…

I was asked a similar question recently. How much does one can love the game of cricket? It’s always a very hard question to answer. But as you said, I have been involved in cricket for something like 45 years in some sort of professional capacity, player or broadcaster in the game of cricket. Therefore, it has been a major, major part of my life. There are many other interests as well. I have always tried to keep a balance between that and other staff. When you come to something like the PSL because, for me, that was a very vibrant, new experience. When I was working with the Sky in the UK, they took the view that they wanted someone younger, probably darker hairs, to be their T20 expert, so for me to do work on the T20s, was energizing and revitalizing. And one of the things (in PSL) that was very, very striking was the amount of talent Pakistan have, especially in the pace department, the 21-year-olds and the 22-year-olds coming through. There were a few of them. One of them was obviously (Shahnawaz) Dahani who turned out to be the emerging player of the tournament. He’s a super character and a very, very good bowler. Watching people like him enjoy the game, one of the other great things about the game is that the game is there is to be enjoyed, whether you are playing the game for nothing, for fun, whether you are playing it for a little bit of money or millions of dollars, the whole point is actually trying to enjoy the experience. And someone like Shahnawaz Dahani enjoys the whole thing. It was fun to see that talent and the enjoyment because that to me epitomizes what you should be doing if you are playing at the highest level.

Would David Gower have enjoyed playing T20s? You had a fantastic strike rate (75.15) in ODIs in the 1980s when the 50 overs format was still relatively new…

I hope I would have enjoyed it (T20). The interesting thing is, if I am honest about my one-day figures, they were much better at the start than they were at the end. The priority was always Test cricket. Some of the fun seemed to go out of one-day cricket (for me), but the pressure was always there. The one thing I admire about the current generation of players is that, yes, in many ways, things are better for them, you can include the money, the rewards, you can include the way people are managed, especially at the international level, they are playing a lot of cricket. They are out there all the time and they are expected to be at their best all the time, whether they are playing franchise cricket, IPL or the PSL or whether they are playing international cricket, be it Test matches, ODIs, T20s, there is this expectation from people like me, the broadcasters, the fans, each individual, we expect 100 per cent every day. Physically and mentally it can’t happen. That’s the tough thing. I think it’s a testament to the professionalism, maybe, it’s just the way people do things nowadays, that they can produce entertaining cricket so often. And if I had been playing in this generation now, yes I would have been excited by it, I would have to learn tricks that I didn’t have to learn back then. But the strike rate I had in one day cricket was natural because we had tricks then, some of the tricks we had are still being used now.

What were those tricks?

For instance, manoeuvring in the crease, going deep in the crease, giving yourself the space to go one side of the field against the bowler, trying to outwit a bowler, those things, still carry on now. But obviously things like the shot going back over your head, we could not have done it those days because we were not wearing a visor (on the helmet), it would have been a very foolish thing to attempt, without the staff protecting your face. So I would have been needed to learn things like power-hitting, the techniques of power hitting, it’s different now to what they were 30-40 years ago.

Players who rely on timing than power are still doing well in T20s…

The one thing I do like is that there is still room for touch players in the modern game. One example I have always quoted, even though he is retired now, someone like Mahela Jayawardene, who was a lovely, lovely player to watch. He was not built like Chris Gayle for instance, but he was still able to play high-quality T20 cricket because of the skill and the ability to maneuver the ball, without absolute muscle power. So you have to play to your own strength. But that’s true for any generation. So if I look at myself now, I never had the built, the guns, to muscle it over the boundary three times an over. I hit sixes now and again, and when I did, I was like, ‘oh how did it happen?’ But it was more a question of pure timing and getting everything right to get the distance. For someone who once hit a six at the MCG without the boundaries being brought in from the edge of the field, that’s quite some hit, so one could do it, but not at the same way people do it nowadays. So I think a usual rule of thumb is that whatever era you played, you would adapt to the requirement of that age. So you do what you have to do to be good in that age. So I am starting now, if I am starting right now, say as a 20-year-old, I would have been probably fitter and stronger than I was 40 years ago. I would be training harder, I would be practising ramp shots, I would be practising power-hitting, and trying not to lose the absolute talent and grace that I had and made me what I was.

That absolute talent and grace that you had made you one of the beautiful batsmen in cricket. But who are those elegant batsmen that you enjoyed watching?

Good question. I mentioned one earlier in the context of the modern game, Mahela Jayawardene. That’s the sort of player because you know it’s all about balance, about timing, about finesse, rather than brute strength. In the modern game, in the last decade, people have been spending time talking about big bats, big muscles, big hits. But there are still people, let’s face it, someone like Williamson and Root, especially the top four, I mean even Smith and Kohli, they would not be that good without the timing and the finesse. My comparison is to tennis, I mean someone like Roger Federer, I have watched him a couple of times live, I have watched him for hours on TV, and just that natural brilliance, the pure timing. That’s my comparison. I always find it very hard to identify the ultimate stylist, but there are people out there who play with timing, who play with finesse, long may they last because there is such an important place for them in the game of cricket. One of the great things about the game is the variety, be it pace, be it spin, be it right-arm, be it left-arm, the right-handed batsmen, the left-handed batsmen, be it the muscle men, be it the timers, the finesse men, so the whole mix is what makes the game as special as it can be.