NEW DELHI: Former Australia captain Steve Waugh has praised Virat Kohli for his proactive leadership qualities saying that he sees a bit of Ricky Ponting and himself in the way the Indian goes about his business.

“There’s probably elements of Ricky (Ponting) and myself in his captaincy, but having said that he’s his own man,” Waugh said on Thursday.

“He’s the new face of India, he can get in your face, he’s aggressive, he’s positive, and he leads in a certain way so the other guys know how he wants the team to play.

“(But also) I’m glad he’s got a bit of me in his captaincy.”

Waugh, the most successful captain in Test history with a winning percentage of 71.92, is also impressed with Kohli’s body language and the way 28-year-old encourages his team-mates.

“He’s obviously a very aggressive captain, he encourages a lot of talk amongst his troops and he’s got positive body language and they’re all the traits that I liked in my sides,” he said.

He then proceeded to compare Kohli’s on-field conduct to Ponting saying both take charge and step up to lead by example when the situation demands.

“Ricky Ponting was a similar type of player; he’d roll his sleeves up, get stuck in, he’d go into bat pad if he needed to and led by example. And Virat Kohli certainly does that,” he said.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2017