"Not Surprised At All": Sunil Gavaskar On Virat Kohli Stepping Down As India Test Captain

Just a day after India's defeat to South Africa in the three-match Test series, Team India skipper Virat Kohli on Saturday announced his decision to quit the captaincy of the Test team. Reacting to Kohli's decision of stepping down as Test captain, former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar said that he was "not surprised at all". Earlier, the BCCI had replaced the 33-year-old as Team India's white-ball captain while naming the squad for the ongoing tour of South Africa.

"I'm not surprised at all. But I had thought that it might have come at the presentation ceremony. But, maybe, it would have looked like it has come out of a sense of anger having lost the series. So, I think a little bit of gap and the decision has come," Gavaskar said during a discussion on India Today.

Gavaskar also highlighted the fact that series defeats overseas are "not taken too kindly" by the board officials in India.

"As a captain, I have experienced that series defeats overseas are not taken too kindly by the board officials and the cricket loving public. The captain is in danger of being sacked. That has happened in the past and I'm pretty certain that this could have happened this time around because this was a series that India was expected to win and win easily. So, the captain is where the buck stops," he added.

On being asked whether Kohli pre-empted the Test captaincy slipping away from his grasp, Gavaskar said: "There is every possibility of that, looking at what had transpired earlier on."

Following the conclusion of the Test series, the focus now shifts towards a three-match ODI series against the Proteas, starting with the first game in Paarl from January 19.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team South Africa Cricket Team Virat Kohli Sunil Gavaskar Cricket