Days after cricketer Virat Kohli announced his decision to quit as the captain of the Indian T20 team after T20 World Cup in October, a report by India Ahead News says coach Ravi Shastri had suggested Kohli to leave the captaincy of ODI cricket team as well.
According to the report, Shastri had made the suggestion a month before Kohli announced stepping down as the skipper of India’s T20 team. Shastri had then suggested the prolific run-getter, who is on a patch currently, to give up the white ball captaincy altogether, which includes ODIs, and focus on his batting while leading India in Test cricket.
The suggestion was reportedly made not with the aim of questioning Kohli’s captaincy skills but inspiring him to continue being the top batsman in the world. But Kohli was keen on continuing as ODI team captain and therefore, he did not heed Shastri’s advice in entirety and opted only to give up the captaincy of India’s T20 squad.
Sources quoted in the report say the discussions surrounding Kohli’s captaincy cropped up after India’s victory in Australia without their regular captain. It was also considered that Kohli may have to pass the baton of ODI captaincy at some point around the 2023 world cup if things do not turn out to be as planned by the Indian cricket management.
However, a BCCI insider quoted by India Ahead News added that Kohli should continue to harbour the dream of leading the team in the 2023 world cup. “Had Kohli been a really bad captain, India could not have stayed at the number 1 position. It’s just that he is yet to win us an ICC trophy, which could happen any time soon,” the BCCI insider was quoted as saying.
Virat Kohli announces stepping down from the captaincy of India’s T20 team
On September 16, Virat Kohli announced stepping down from the T20 captainship. In a statement released on his social media accounts, Kohli said, “I’ve decided to step down as the T20 Captain after this T20 World Cup in Dubai in October.”
Citing a busy schedule and workload by paying three formats and regularly captaining for over five years, he said that he needed to give himself space to be fully ready to lead the Indian Cricket Team in Test an ODI. He said, “Understanding workload is a very important thing and considering my immense workload over the last 8-9 years playing all three formats and captaining regularly for last 5-6 years, I feel I need to give myself space to be fully ready to lead the Indian Team in Test and ODI cricket.”
