"Virat Kohli Had Direction, Wanted To Win, But...": Pak Great On Ex-India Captain's Sacking
As a captain, Virat Kohli couldn't lead the Indian team to an ICC title.
India's ICC trophy drought remains one of the biggest mysteries for the global cricketing spectrum considering the talent pool the team has. While the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, etc. are among the top players in the world, the ICC trophy continues to evade the team. Even captains of the stature of Kohli and Rohit haven't succeeded in getting India the success they desire. For Pakistan great Rashid Latif, the ICC trophy absence is more down to 'internal issues'.
Kohli, one of India's most talismanic captains, couldn't earn the team an ICC title in either of the three formats. While he left the T20I captaincy and Test captaincy on his own, was sacked in ODIs, with Rohit Sharma replacing him in all three formats.
"Virat Kohli had a direction and he wanted to win, but he was sacked. The team couldn't perform due to internal issues. They couldn't perform in ICC tournaments because, maybe, the captain didn't get the desired players. Or maybe he got, but they weren't used," Latif said in a video on his YouTube channel.
"Their team is still pretty good, they will get a no.4. The problem begins when the top-3 gets dismissed quickly. If the top-3 plays out the 25-30 overs, they will win easily. Their issue is the top-3 isn't performing how it used to. They could've brought back Shikhar Dhawan, you had made him captain less than a year ago during a tour. You had players, you threw them here and there," he added.
Since Kohli's exit as India's skipper the Indian team has lost a T20 World Cup (2022) and an ICC World Test Championship final (2023) under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma. The Hitman, however, will have an opportunity to make things right as the Indian team embarks upon the ODI World Cup challenge this year.
India Cricket Team
Virat Kohli
Rohit Sharma