The Virat Kohli captaincy saga; One era ends, another set to begin

In
a
sudden
development
on
Saturday
(January
15)
evening,
Kohli
quit
as
India’s
captain
in
the
white
flannels,
a
day
after
India
lost
the
series
1-2
to
South
Africa.

“It’s
been
seven
years
of
hard
work,
toil
and
relentless
perseverance
everyday
to
take
the
team
in
the
right
direction.
I’ve
done
the
job
with
absolute
honesty
and
left
nothing
out
there,”
Kohli
said
while
making
the
announcement
through
his
official
Twitter
handle.

Virat
Kohli
quits
Test
captaincy

The
33-year-old
had
already
relinquished
the
Twenty20
captaincy
after
ICC
T20
World
Cup
2021
held
in
the
UAE,
while
he
was
divested
of
the
One-day
International
leadership
controversially
by
the
selectors,
a
move
which
drew
flak
from
all
quarters

During
his
tenure
as
Indian
Test
captain,
Kohli
led
the
team
to
the
top
of
International
Cricket
Council
(ICC)
world
rankings
and
the
Men
In
Blue
recorded
a
memorable
series
win
in
Australia.

He
also
led
the
team
to
the
final
of
the
ICC
World
Test
Championship
final
in
Lord’s
in
June
2021,
where
they
lost
to
Kane
Wiliamson-led
New
Zealand.

Virat
Kohli
Test
Captaincy
Record:
Stats
of
India’s
most
successful
Test
captain

Kohli
had
taken
over
Test
captaincy
from
Mahendra
Singh
Dhoni
in
2014,
midway
through
the
Test
series
in
Australia,
leading
India
in
68
matches,
winning
40
and
losing
17.

Rohit
Sharma
is
currently
the
designated
skipper
for
India
in
the
shorter
formats.
However
KL
Rahul
will
be
leading
India
in
the
upcoming
ODI
series
against
South
Africa
as
Sharma
is
recovering
from
an
injury.

Virat
Kohli
quits
India
Test
captaincy;
KL
Rahul
front-runner
to
take
over
leader
role
in
longest
format

Right
now
only
the
duo
is
in
the
mix
to
succeed
Kohli
as
skipper
in
the
white
flannels,
a
move
confirmed
by
informed
sources
as
well.

“At
the
moment
Rohit
and
Rahul
are
the
only
two
names
that
come
to
mind
to
succeed
him,
”
a
senior
official
of
the
Board
of
Control
for
Cricket
in
India
(BCCI)
told

AFP
news
agency
on
condition
of
anonymity.

“We
will
have
to
sit
and
discuss
to
come
up
with
Kohli’s
successor.
Rohit
is
already
the
white-ball
captain,
so
let’s
see,”
the
BCCI
source
added.

Rohit,
34,
took
over
the
Twenty20
job
from
Kohli
following
India’s
World
Cup
exit,
and
later
replaced
him
as
captain
in
the
50-over
format
as
well.

Rahul
led
India
in
the
second
South
Africa
Test
after
Kohli
missed
the
match
due
to
injury.

Other
names
in
contention
include
Rishabh
Pant,
who
scored
an
unbeaten
100
—
albeit
for
a
losing
cause
—
in
the
third
Test
in
Cape
Town.

After
the
series
loss
in
South
Africa,
Kohli
had
said
that
there
was
“no
running
away”
from
India’s
batting
collapses
every
now
and
then.
The
team
squandered
a
1-0
lead
and
a
golden
opportunity
to
script
a
maiden
Test
series
win
in
South
Africa.

Besides
the
batters’ failures,
Kohli
listed
inconsistency,
lack
of
application,
lapse
in
concentration
and
their
inability
to
seize
the
crunch
moments
as
reasons
for
the
team’s
loss
in
the
three-match
rubber.

India
won
the
series-opener
in
Centurion
by
113
runs,
but
surprisingly
caved
in
against
an
inexperienced
South
African
team
in
the
remaining
two
matches
at
Johannesburg
and
Cape
Town,
with
their
batters
letting
them
down
on
more
than
one
occasion.

He
missed
the
second
Test
due
to
back
spasm
and
had
returned
for
series
decider,
but
could
not
change
the
fortunes
of
the
team.

All
good
things
should
come
to
an
end
as
Kohli
tweeted
and
all
one
can
say
is
as
curtains
have
descended
on
one
one
era,
the
stage
is
set
for
the
other
to
begin.