With Virat Kohli sitting at the experience of 99 Test matches currently, fans eagerly wait for him to complete his 100 red-ball games at the International level in the first Test of the series against Sri Lanka, scheduled in February. The celebration could have been bigger had the former skipper of Indian achieved the monumental feat as the Test captain.
Virat Kohli says no to captaincy farewell, reports
However, his decision of retiring as the red-ball skipper of India came as a shock to many. With Kohli scheduled to play his 100th Test match at the iconic M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, a senior BCCI official offered a farewell match as a skipper to him, as reported by Hindustan Times. But Kohli declined the offer and said, “One match makes no difference. That’s not how I am.”
Kohli after announcing his retirement from the T20I captaincy of India had intentions to lead the side in ODIs and Test matches, as he mentioned in his note posted on Twitter. But with the selectors opting for the conventional route and giving Rohit Sharma the ODI captaincy as well, Kohli was certainly stunned and gutted.
An indirect war of words between him and the BCCI regarding the captaincy saga was leaving a bad impression on his batting. As it seems, Kohli has decided to move on, and looking at the kind of personality he possesses, returning to captain India in his 100th Test match was never a possibility.
Kohli’s retirement from Test captaincy puts the selectors in a fix
As Kohli’s chapter as the Test captain of India is now over, India would want their numero uno all-format batsman to come back to his old self. On the other hand, selectors are left with the hard job of picking up the new red-ball skipper of India.
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While Rohit Sharma may seem to be an obvious choice, his age and fitness make his case weak. KL Rahul became a permanent feature in the Test side only two series ago and still has a lot to prove. Rishabh Pant flourishes under pressure and added responsibility of captaincy may suit his style but he is also not a proven leader. There is more than a month left in the series against Sri Lanka and only time will tell what the future holds for Indian Test cricket.