Former India batter Subramaniam Badrinath wants star batter Virat Kohli to lead the team in Test cricket. His comments came after India lost to South Africa by an innings and 32 runs in the first Test in Centurion last Thursday. Kohli had relinquished his Test captaincy during the same tour two years back, paving way for Rohit Sharma to become the new skipper in the longest format of the game. Rohit also replaced Kohli as India's full-time captain last year.
Under Rohit, India have played 10 Tests with five wins and three losses. India also reached the WTC final where they lost to Australia earlier this year.
While highlighting Kohli's unmatched record as India's Test captain, Badrinath raised questions as to why the star batter is not leading the side in the longest format of the game.
"Kohli has a great record as a Test leader. He has scored more than 5000 runs with an average of 52-plus as a captain. He has 40 wins and 17 losses in 68 Tests. He led us to a tremendous victory in the Australia series. He has the most wins as Test captain after Graeme Smith, Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh," Badrinath said on his YouTube channel, as quoted by India Today.
Badrinath also labelled Kohli as a better Test batter than Rohit, while also questioning Rohit's place in the team as an opener outside sub-continent conditions.
"Why is he not the captain of the Test team? I want to raise this valid question. He is a better Test batter. There is no comparison between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. He is a big player, in terms of Test cricket. He has scored runs everywhere. Why is he not leading and a weaker player. As far as I am concerned, a weaker player, who is not yet proven as an opener. He has been in and out. We can consider all that. But I think Rohit Sharma has not proven himself as an opener outside India. Why is he there?," he added.
Kohli played knocks of 38 and 76 in the first Test, while Rohit managed five runs across both innings.
During the last tour of South Africa, India came close to winnings the series. They had won the first game under Kohli's leadership, but conceded the series after losing the last two games.
Kohli had missed the second Test due to back issue, with KL Rahul leading the team in his absence.
While the star batter resumed his duties for the last match, the Proteas had gained a psychological edge, having never lost a series at home against India.