It Is An Astonishing Decision: Childhood Coach Rajkumar Sharma On Virat Kohli Relinqushing Test Captaincy

Virat Kohli’s childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma said that his ward’s decision to quit Test captaincy was astonishing for him.

Kohli’s sudden decision to step down from the Test captaincy role has shocked his fans and the entire cricket world.

Everything has to come to a halt at some stage: Virat Kohli on relinquishing Test captaincy

On Saturday, Kohli announced on his official Twitter handle to step down as India’s Test captain just a day after his side lost the Test series 1-2 against South Africa.

Kohli stepped down from the T20I captaincy role after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup in November last year. Just ahead of the South Africa tour, he was replaced with Rohit Sharma as the ODI captain as the selectors didn’t want two white-ball captains for India.

“Everything has to come to a halt at some stage and for me as Test captain of India, it’s now. There have been many ups and also some downs along the journey but there has never been lack of effort or lack of belief,” Kohli issued a statement on his official Twitter handle.

Virat Kohli has not taken this decision in a hurry: Rajkumar Sharma

Rajkumar Sharma said that he wasn’t aware of the exact reason for Kohli’s unexpected decision and preferred to not get deeper into the topic.

“It is an astonishing decision. I will not want to comment too much on this because it is his personal decision and I will not want to say for what reason he has left captaincy. I will not be able to comment too much on what he has undergone till I know the actual picture. I can say that he has not taken this decision in a hurry,” Rajkumar told India News.

“I believe he has had a huge contribution as captain in Indian cricket. He will be one of the most successful captains. When he became the captain the India team was at the 7th spot in Test cricket and today they are No. 1,” he added.

Kohli took over the reins from MS Dhoni in Test cricket after the latter retired from the red-ball format at the end of 2014. Kohli stood as India’s captain in 68 Test matches and won 40 of them, the best record for any Indian skipper.

Under the leadership of Kohli, India won their first-ever Test series in Australia when they defeated them 2-1 in the 2018/19 Border Gavaskar series.

The team’s approach of playing overseas Test matches transfigured as they developed a winning and fighting attitude under Kohli’s tenure as the captain of the team.

Also Read: Virat Kohli Is Still Annoyed With The Selectors For Removing Him From ODI Captaincy: Madan Lal