Cricket pundits have been voicing their views ever since Virat Kohli decided to step down from the Test captaincy. On Saturday, he made the announcement through a lengthy social media post in which he said that everything has to stop at some point. The cricket fraternity lauded Kohli for his illustrious captaincy record in Test cricket. Veteran former all-rounder and captain Kapil Dev also joined the bandwagon.
Kapil congratulated Kohli on a stellar stint but the latter also underlined the pressure the captaincy had put in place. The 33-year-old’s struggle was 2021 in which he managed to score only 536 runs in 11 Tests at an average of 28.21.
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Talking to Mid-Day, Kapil said, ‘I welcome Virat’s decision to step down as Test captain. He was going through a bad phase ever since he left the T20 captaincy. He seems to be in a lot of tension in the recent times, seems to be under a lot of pressure. So giving up the captaincy to play independently was an option. He chose it.”
“He is a mature man. I am sure he must have given a lot of thought before taking this important decision. Maybe he was not enjoying the captaincy. We have to support him and wish him all the best.”
As Kohli is set to play under another player who will replace him as captain, Kapil explained the matter by citing examples from his playing days. He recalled how great batsman Sunil Gavaskar played under him while Kapil himself was under the captaincy of Srikkanth and Azharuddin.
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“Sunil Gavaskar also played under me. I played under K Srikkanth and Azharuddin. I had no ego. Virat has to drop his ego and play under the leadership of a young cricketer. This will help him and Indian cricket. Virat should guide the new captain, new players. We cannot lose batsman Virat… Absolutely not,” concluded Kapil.
While Rohit Sharma has been given the responsibility of the team in the limited overs, it remains to be seen who gets the chance to carry on Kohli’s legacy in Tests.
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