 "Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, Director General of Military Operations for the Indian Army, described Indian cricket legend Virat Kohli as his favourite cricketer. AP")
There has been an outpouring of tributes for star batter Virat Kohli ever since he announced his retirement from Test cricket on Monday . From former head coach Ravi Shastri, with whom he enjoyed some of his best years as Test captain and batter, to long-time Royal Challengers Bengaluru teammate AB de Villiers and ICC chairman Jay Shah, Kohli’s impact on the red-ball game was hailed by one and all .
Among those acknowledging Kohli’s stellar Test career on Monday was Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) of the Indian Army who described the former India captain as his favourite cricket. Lieutenant General Ghai made the statement during a press briefing by DGMOs of the Indian army, air force and navy on ‘Operation Sindoor’ on Monday.
“Maybe today I should talk about cricket too, because I saw that Virat Kohli has retired from Test cricket. Like many Indians, he is my favourite cricketer as well,” Lt. Gen Ghai said on Monday.
Kohli signed off from Test cricket with 9,230 runs from 123 Tests at an average of 46.85, collecting 30 centuries along the way. He also remains India’s most successful Test captain ever and the fourth-most successful of all time with 40 wins in 68 matches.
Indian Army DGMO mentions Ashes rivalry as well as Australian pace legends during press briefing
The DGMO of the Indian Army, however, did not limit his cricketing references to Kohli and his retirement.
Lt. Gen Ghai also mentioned pace legends Jeff Thompson and Dennis Lillee as well as the historic Ashes rivalry between Australia and England while discussing ‘Operation Sindoor’.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“There was a match between England and Australia. At that time, two ace bowlers of Australia - Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee destroyed the English batting line up. At that time, Australia coined a phrase - ‘ashes to ashes, dust to dust, if Thommo don’t get ya, Lillee must.’
“If you see the layers, you’ll understand what I am trying to say. Even if you crossed all the layers, one of the layers of this grid system will hit you,” Lt. Gen Ghai added during his statement.
The DGMOs spoke to reporters on Monday to discuss the success of ‘Operation Sindoor’ – the Indian armed forces’ offensive in response to the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam last month.
Not only did India target several terror camps located deep inside Pakistan as well as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, it also struck several Pakistan Air Force bases besides causing significant damage to its air defence and radar system – completely neutralising the infrastructure in Lahore.