Former India cricketer Madan Lal believes Virat Kohli with Indian selectors for removing him as ODI captain and that could have played a major role in his decision to quit Test captaincy. Incidentally, Kohli stepped down as India’s Test captain on January 15 (Saturday).
Earlier, Kohli had relinquished his leadership duties in the shortest formats after the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 before being removed as the captain in ODIs. And now, Virat Kohli has stepped down as captain from the longest format of the game in the wake of India’s 2-1 defeat against South Africa.
Madan Lal highlighted that Kohli’s sacking as ODI captain might have played a significant role in stepping down as Test captain.
“It has definitely surprised me that Virat Kohli has left Test captaincy. I think he is still very annoyed with the decision of the selectors or the board when they said you’re not going to be the captain of the 50-overs side. That I think he still has in mind, he is still thinking ‘why they removed from the 50-over format?,” Madan Lal told India Today.
“We knew he is going to be the captain for Tests, he was very successful series. I definitely think he is very annoyed with the selectors or the board that he was removed from 50-over captaincy,” he added.
Virat Kohli took over the reins from MS Dhoni in 2014. Since then, he has India in 68 Test matches and won 40 of them, the best record for any Indian skipper.
During his reign as Test captain, India won their first series in Australia in 2018-19. India also reached the final of the World Test Championship before losing to New Zealand in the final. Kohli & Co were leading a Test series 2-1 in England before the fifth and final Test was called off due to Covid-19 fears in the Indian camp.
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