Ravi Shastri, former head coach of the Indian team has come up with a shocking assessment of Virat Kohli's decision to give away his Test captaincy. After India surrendered the Test series to South Africa, Virat Kohli announced he would be stepping down as skipper of the team.
The 33-year-old shocked everybody with the timing of his decision and Shastri too says that Kohli could have continued for '2 more years' but he also hinted that certain 'people would not have been able to digest that'.
Virat Kohli has been at loggerheads with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) ever since he first announced his decision to step down as the T20I skipper. He was subsequently removed as the ODI captain, with Rohit Sharma instilled in his place.
The Delhi-born batsman also publicly defied Sourav Ganguly's claims, who had earlier stated that he personally requested Virat not to give up captaincy in the T20I format. This whole soap opera could have prompted Virat Kohli to move aside so that he could instead focus on his batting as per the opinion of Ravi Shastri.
In a chat with India Today, the former Indian all-rounder stated, "Whether Virat could have continued to lead India in Tests. For sure, he could have led India for at least 2 years because next two years India would be playing at home and who is coming over - 9 and 10 jacks, going by the rankings. But he would have then made it to 50-60 wins under his captaincy and a lot of people will not be able to digest that fact."
Shastri further added, "Two years, he could have carried on but we should respect his decision. In any other country, this kind of record is incredible. You won against Australia, England and lost 1-2 to South Africa but still, there are debates if he should be the captain or not."
Citing the example of former greats, Ravi Shastri revealed why Virat Kohli decided to give up the captaincy and focus on his batting instead.
"So he only knows how much is he enjoying captaincy. When Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni were not enjoying captaincy, they left. Similarly, when Virat thought that he had won 40 matches, six years he had been leading and now he wants to enjoy his cricket. He wants to focus on his batting and release a bit of pressure and it happens with a lot of individuals," said Shastri.
