Virender Sehwag has urged Virat Kohli not to step down as India’s Test and ODI captain after handing over the reins in T20 cricket following his team’s disappointing exit from the ongoing World Cup.
Pre-tournament favourites India failed to reach the knockout stages of the T20 World Cup after suffering successive defeats to Pakistan and New Zealand at the start of the tournament.
It was a hugely disappointing outcome for India, who had many of their players impress at the Indian Premier League – also held in the United Arab Emirates – prior to the competition.
Sehwag, who helped India with the first T20 World Cup in 2007, said: ‘I know we should support the team during bad times but it’s been a long time since we’ve won a major ICC tournament.
‘India should definitely introspect on the competition. Winning bilateral series is one thing but people only remember when you win world tournaments consistently.’
Kohli confirmed before the tournament that he would step down as T20 captain following the World Cup, citing the need to manage his ‘workload’ as the primary reason.
The 33-yearold insisted the decision would allow him the ‘space’ to be ‘fully ready’ to lead the Test and ODI teams.
India legend Sehwag added on his Facebook page: ‘It is Virat’s decision but I don’t think he should give up the captaincy in the other two formats.
‘If he wants to play just as a player, it is his decision. I feel under his captaincy, India are playing well and his record as a captain is brilliant.
‘He is a good player, an aggressive captain and leads from the front. I reiterate that leaving or not leaving the captaincy in ODIs and Tests should be his personal decision.’
After losing their opening two matches at the T20 World Cup, India secured emphatic victories over Afghanistan, Scotland and Namibia to rival New Zealand for a place in the semi-finals.
But Kane Williamson’s side held their nerve to knock India out and set up a semi-final clash with 2019 World Cup final opponents England.
Outgoing India coach Ravi Shastri said his players were ‘physically and mentally drained’ following their T20 World Cup exit.
Over the past 12 months, India have toured Australia and England, contested the World Test Championship final against New Zealand and had a white-ball series against Sri Lanka.
Most of the squad then took part in the rescheduled IPL – which finished just days before the T20 World Cup – spending many months in bio-secure bubbles.
‘I am mentally drained, but I expect that at my age, but these guys are physically and mentally drained too,’ Shastri said.
‘They have spent six months in the bubble and we would have ideally liked a bigger gap between the IPL and the World Cup.
‘It is when the big games come and the pressure hits you, you are not as switched on as you should be.
‘It is not an excuse because we take defeat – we’re not scared of losing. In trying to win you will lose games, but here we didn’t try to win because the x-factor was missing.’
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