'Kohli has stomach to compete, drag his players to victory,' Viv Richards heaps praise on Indian skipper

West Indian legend cricketer Viv  Richards on Friday stood by the aggressive nature of Virat Kohli as he suggested that Virat's aggression proves his love for the country.

The West Indian veteran also spoke about the current scenario of Indian batting in the ongoing Test series Down Under. He said that he felt sorry watching the other batsmen throw away their wickets to Aussie spinner Nathan Lyon.

He said that the Indian batsmen have forgotten the art of playing spinners in which they were specialist. However, Viv Richards also mentioned that the current Indian side has a "wonderful opportunity" to win a Test series in Australia.

"India has got a wonderful opportunity to win the series. They would have had a setback in Perth but they can still win. They have a captain like Virat who wears his heart on his sleeve and he has the stomach to compete and drag his players to victory," he said.

The 66-year old West Indies batting legend pointed out that even without Steve Smith and David Warner, the Aussies are a formidable unit as they can match up the dearth of talent with their attitude.

"I am still backing them (the Indian team) to win the series but one should never ever forget, the Australians without Steve Smith or (David) Warner are still a formidable force. What they miss in talent, they will bring it in their attitude," he said.

Richards also added that it would be "jumping the gun" to rate Kohli among the all-time greats as he needs to finish his career first.

"Among modern-day players, he is my favourite. I have various categories. I think we got to wait until he is finishing his career (to put him in the bracket of all-time greats). We would be jumping the gun if we do that now. But certainly, he is in a wonderful position," Richards said.

C alling the legendary Sunil Gavaskar as the "Godfather of Indian batsmanship", Viv Richards said India can be very happy to have batting greats at different generations.

"India have had its fair share of batsmen but the folks who can be called role models -- Sunil Gavaskar who is the godfather of Indian batsmanship. Sachin Tendulkar would have followed, and then Virat Kohli. India should be quite happy to have these individuals," he added.