India vs South Africa: Virat Kohli needs to 'tone down' his aggression a bit, feels Jacques Kallis

Virat Kohli tends to go overboard with his aggression, and though it may be working well for the Indian captain, he should do well to “tone down a bit”, feels South African great Jacques Kallis. The legendary all-rounder was of the view that Kohli should decide whether the aggression that works for him also serves his team well. “He has been aggressive and I think it works for his game. But it maybe an area he needs to look at… the way it works for him he has got to see if it works for his team. It might be an area to tone it down a little bit. It certainly brings out the best in him and I think he should not change too much for him. He bats well when he is aggressive within himself,” Kallis was quoted as saying by The Hindustan Times. [caption id=“attachment_4353233” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] India captain Virat Kohli reacts after a wicket in the 5th ODI against South Africa in Port Elizabeth. AFP[/caption] Kohli copped some criticism after India were comprehensively beaten in the first two Tests of the series at Cape Town and Centurion, which was a big comedown from the fantastic dominance at home. Kallis appreciated Kohli’s passion, but felt that one need not always be as aggressive as Kohli is. “I am sure he will chill out a little more as he gets a little bit older,” the former South African all-rounder noted. Speaking on the sidelines of the St Moritz Ice Cricket event, Kallis said that India needed to find a way to improve their away record, especially on wickets that offer a bit more to the bowlers than the Indians are used to. He acknowledged that the recently-concluded India versus South Africa saw some intense contests, and felt that India have shown signs of improvement. He believed that this series would have taught the Indian team some valuable lessons. He praised the Indian bowlers too and said they learnt from their mistakes in the previous tours and bowled in the right areas in the series against the Proteas. India came back strongly after losing the first two Tests, winning the last Test in Johannesburg on a monster of a pitch. They then went on to completely outclass the hosts in the ODI series, winning it 4-1 with a game to go. Two of the main architects of India’s ODI triumph has been the wrist-spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, and Kallis felt having a wrist spinner or mystery spinner in the side is really important, which would be a smart strategy in the upcoming World Cup. Talking to PTI, he identified the lack of exposure to quality leg-spinners at home to be one of the reasons for South Africa’s difficulties against Chahal and Kuldeep.