A day after Virat Kohli announced his decision to relinquish captaincy in the shortest format after the T20 World Cup, social media has been rife with all kinds of reports and speculations pertinent to Indian cricket’s future.
For one thing, Kohli’s announcement validated all the rumors from last week that pointed towards change an upcoming change in leadership. Prior to yesterday, several media houses ran stories with the headlines that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) wanted to sack Kohli from team India’s white-ball captaincy. As it turned out, Kohli himself took the call and gave up captaincy to focus on his batting.
“Kohli hard to reach out to; Rohit has more shades of MSD”- anonymous BCCI source
But as per some sources, Kohli’s decision could’ve been somewhat influenced by the pressure of competition. “Virat knew that he would have been removed from white ball captaincy”, an anonymous BCCI official was quoted as saying by Cricket Addictor. “If the team doesn’t do well at the UAE World T20, he was gone for good as far as white-ball leadership is concerned. He just reduced a bit of pressure on himself as it would seem that he is there on his own terms. It might not happen for 50 overs if the performance in T20 hits a downward spiral,” the source added.
Furthermore, the anonymous source also insights on how Kohli’s leadership attitude differed from that of Rohit Sharma, the incumbent vice-captain. According to them, Rohit ‘has shades of MSD (Mahendra Singh Dhoni)’ and is much more interactive with his teammates.
“In case of MS (Dhoni), his room would be open 24×7 and players could just walk in, play the PS4, have a meal and let their hair down and if required talk cricket. Beyond the ground, Kohli is literally incommunicado.
“Rohit has shades of MSD but in a different manner. He takes the junior players out for meals, gives them a friendly pat on the back when they are down and knows the mental aspects of a player’s make-up inside out.”
Kohli wanted KL Rahul or Rishabh Pant to replace Rohit Sharma as vice-captain: Reports
But perhaps the most significant development to arise from the aftermath of Kohli quitting captaincy is his opinion towards Rohit Sharma’s future in captaining the team. According to some reports, Kohli suggested the BCCI to drop Rohit, 34, as the team’s vice-captain because of his age. Kohli allegedly wanted KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant to be his deputy in ODIs and T20Is respectively.
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None of the developments and stories mentioned above have been formally verified by the BCCI. But it will be interesting to see if the BCCI heeds Kohli’s advice and grooms a younger captain in T20Is following the World Cup. It’s also worth noting that Kohli made his decision to give up captaincy after consulting with Rohit and Ravi Shastri, the current coach of the India team.