Virat Kohli Could Have Led India For Two More Years: Former Coach Ravi Shastri

Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri said that Virat Kohli could have led India for two more years in an exclusive chat with India Today from Oman. Shastri is in Oman currently as the Commissioner of Legends League Cricket and enjoying his stint at the moment. The T20 World Cup last year was Shastri’s final assignment as head coach of the Indian cricket team.

Virat Kohli decided to step down as India’s T20I captain after the end of the World Cup. He was then asked to step down as India’s ODI captain following which he relinquished his Test captaincy as well.

Kohli lost all his captaincy positions in a space of less than four months since giving up on his T20I captaincy. He ended his tenure with 40 Test wins and 65 ODI wins besides winning several bilateral series as captain.

Virat Kohli Could Have Won 50-60 Tests As Captain

“Whether Virat could have continued to lead India in Tests. For sure, he could have 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, going by the rankings. But he would have then made it to 50-60 wins under his captaincy and a lot of people will not be able to digest that fact,” Shastri said.

“Two years, he could have carried on but we should respect his decision. In any other country, this kind of record is incredible. You won against Australia, England and lost 1-2 to South Africa but still, there are debates if he should be the captain or not,” he added.

The Indian team enjoyed unprecedented success under the Shastri-Kohli era. From winning overseas to ruling the number one ICC Test rankings for several years India were well-placed as a cricket team under this duo. Winning back to back Test series against Australia and making it to the final of the World Test Championship remains their most important achievement as a coach-captain duo.

Shastri ended his interaction by saying that Virat Kohli wants to enjoy his cricket after being a successful skipper for such a long time.

“So he only knows how much is he enjoying captaincy. When Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni were not enjoying captaincy, they left. Similarly, when Virat thought that he had won 40 matches, six years he had been leading and now he wants to enjoy his cricket. He wants to focus on his batting and release a bit of pressure and it happens with a lot of individuals” Shastri concluded saying.

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