New Delhi: Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has explained the reasons behind Virat Kohli’s relinquishment of India Test captaincy, saying that the batsman feared losing the captaincy after the series loss against South Africa. A day after India lost the series 1-2 to South Africa in a seven-wicket loss in the third and final Test in Cape Town, Virat Kohli stepped down as captain of the Test team.
After Kohli announced his decision, many current and former cricketers congratulated him for taking the Test team to new heights. However, speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, Manjrekar pointed out that Kohli’s tenure as captain ended very quickly across all formats.
Manjrekar said, “It was one after the other to give up the white-ball captaincy and also the IPL captaincy in a very short time. This was also unexpected, but it is interesting that the resignations came so quickly in all three formats one after the other. “
Manjrekar felt that Virat Kohli did not want anyone to sack him from the captaincy.
He said, “I think he didn’t want to see himself in any way spoiled as captain. So when he felt that now his captaincy was in danger, he himself stepped down as captain.”
Kohli, who captained India for the first time in the Adelaide Test against Australia. He was handed the full-time role after MS Dhoni announced his retirement from the format in January 2015 ahead of the fourth Test in Sydney.
Kohli has resigned from the Test captaincy as the most successful captain for India in the longest format of the game. Overall, during his time as captain, India played 68 Tests, winning 40, losing 17 and drawing 11 matches. His win percentage was 58.82 and during his tenure the team registered memorable victories in foreign and home conditions.
The Cape Town Test was the last match for Kohli as the captain of India.
first published:Jan. 16, 2022, 8:49 p.m.
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