Ice cool Steve Waugh feels there is nothing wrong with Virat Kohli's expressive on-field behaviour. The former Australian captain, who led a pack of talented diehards, was known for his matured and sober demeanour, but was still one of the most aggressive of captains the game has seen. His actions spoke louder than words.
Like his batting skills, Kohli's aggressive body language makes headlines. The young captain now has a solid ally - team director Ravi Shastri. The former Indian all-rounder will handle Team India till next year's ICC World Twenty20. Waugh feels Kohli has the potential to be a good leader and even compared him to Sourav Ganguly.
Recently, former Test batsman and noted TV commentator Sanjay Manjrekar had questioned the Kohli-Shastri partnership and even hinted that over-aggression could be detrimental to Team India.
Manjrekar felt Ishant Sharma's outbursts during the third India versus Sri Lanka Test in Colombo could have been better controlled by Kohli-Shastri. Ishant has been suspended by the ICC and will miss the first Test versus South Africa at home. It will be a costly miss and for a bad reason, felt Manjrekar.
Waugh, however, feels passion and emotion are integral parts of the game as long as you don't cross the line. Waugh doesn't really know how to define the gentleman's game. Where does one draw the line?
Speaking at an event in Bengaluru, Waugh said: "I don't know what a gentleman's game means. But as long as it is played in the right spirit. You'd be disappointed if the Indian side had no passion because they are representing 1.2 billion people. The Australian side represents 24 million people.
"There is a lot at stake when you are playing for your country. You want passion. Sometimes that can bubble over but you want to see the emotion and see them really wanting to do well. You don't want to cross the line where it becomes unsportsmanlike but that can happen occasionally in any sport. We want to see players with emotion and passion."
Waugh had his famous run-ins with Ganguly, once the Indian captain making the Aussie wait at the toss. Their careers over, Waugh and Ganguly have their respects for each other. Waugh compared Kohli's leadership style to Ganguly's.
"He (Kohli) plays aggressively and I guess his captaincy is a bit in the Sourav Ganguly mould, where he can be in your face and he can be a bit prickly at times. But I don't mind that, I am happy to see that.
"As a captain, he is never going to back down or be trampled upon by the opposition and that's a good thing for India," explained Waugh, a veteran of 168 Tests.
Waugh feels, Kohli's personality is an asset. "He will do well. He had a good win in Sri Lanka and few sides in the past decade have won away from home, so that's a good feather in his cap. I haven't seen him captain much but I assume by the way he plays the game that he is out there to win."
Kohli's next big Test will be against South Africa at home. End-September, the Proteas arrive for a marathon 72-day tour that includes four Test matches.