Ravi Shastri's Stunning Comment On Whether Virat Kohli Should've Continued As Test Captain

Virat Kohli's era as Test captain of Team India came to an end earlier this month after he decided to step down following the team's loss in the three-match series (1-2) against South Africa. Kohli, who won 40 out of 68 matches as Test captain, ended as India's most successful skipper in the longest format of the game. Under Kohli, India ended its wait for a Test series win Australia, and also topped the Test rankings for a long period of time. Former India head coach Ravi Shastri, who also played a major role in achieving the highs for Team India, has shared his views on Kohli's captaincy era.

Shastri feels that Virat Kohli could've easily captained the Test team for the next two years, considering the fact that the Indian team will be playing against lower ranked teams.

"For sure, he could've led India for at least 2 years because next two years India would be playing at home and who is coming over - 9 and 10 jacks, if you see the rankings," Shastri told Sports Tak.

The 59-year-old added that Kohli could've further bettered his legacy as India's Test captain, something which other individuals might've found hard to digest.

"He would have then probably made it to 50 wins under his captaincy and then a lot of people would have had difficulties in digesting that fact," he added.

However, Shastri insisted that everyone should respect Kohli's decision to step down as Test captain as he has led the team successfully for a long period of time.

"Virat Kohli led India for 5-6 years in Tests and out of those, five years India was no. 1. No other Indian captain has this kind of record. There are only a handful of captains in the world with this kind of record. So, when the most successful captain decides to step down as captain it's an individual's decision because nobody has that record of 40 wins in 68 matches," he further said.

India's next Test assignment will come during a two-match series against Sri Lanka at home between February and March.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Virat Kohli Rohit Sharma Ravi Shastri Rahul Dravid Cricket