London: England's ODI and T20I captain Eoin Morgan, who has been winning matches and friends with a high degree of consistency, briefly spoke to The Telegraph exclusively on fellow captains Virat Kohli and Joe Root.

Where the ongoing India vs England Test series goes, the hosts are 2-0 ahead after winning the first two matches.

Morgan, it may be recalled, has taken England to the No. 1 ranking in ODIs. In T20Is, however, England are ranked fourth.

For the record, the 31-year-old Morgan regards former England captain Andrew Strauss as his role model.

Excerpts

• VIRAT KOHLI (India's captain across the three formats): Kohli is a captain who leads by example. Obviously he is very emotional and that works well for him. What stands out about Kohli is that he's himself and does not try to be anybody else. I've admired captains who carve an identity for themselves and the teams they lead.

• JOE ROOT (England's Test captain): Joe is brilliant and is a huge role model, just the kind of person whom others outside cricket can also look up to. Joe is open to learning and, with him, it's not a case of 'my way is the right way'. Because of that attitude, Joe is constantly looking for ways which will work best. Expectedly, our Test team looks up to Joe and I often seek his advice when he's a teammate in white-ball cricket. Both of us talk about captaincy fairly regularly.

Finally, on what goes into the making of a captain who has the potential to make that difference...

I believe that an understanding of the game, an appreciation of situations and an awareness of where a particular player is (mentally) is very important. Good captains have to keep an eye on which player is travelling well and who is not. Of course, all that comes down to man management, so the captains who are in the know of the mindset of their players are the ones who deliver more than the others. Besides enjoying the job, you really have to stay on top. It does get challenging.