Virat Kohli Still Has 5 Years On Him And It's Not Like He Is Quitting Cricket, Opines Salman Butt

Former Pakistan cricketer Salman Butt believes that Virat Kohli has at least five years left in his playing career after the latter recently quit India’s Test captaincy.

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

Virat Kohli relinquishes captaincy duty from all formats

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 a lack of effort or lack of belief,” Kohli issued a statement on his official Twitter handle.

I got a vibe that Virat Kohli has had enough: Salman Butt

Butt said that the 33-year-old Kohli has still a lot left to play for India even after relinquishing captaincy from all formats.

The former Pakistan captain also feels that there is an absence of like-mindedness in Kohli’s case after Ravi Shastri and his coaching staff left after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup.

“After reading his note on Twitter, I got a vibe that he’s had enough. And this is not the age where a player goes, “okay, I am done. Someone else please take over”. He still has 5 years on him and it’s not like he’s quitting cricket all together,” Butt said on his YouTube channel.

“I am getting a feeling that not everything is smooth within the set-up. One of the other reasons could be the absence of like-mindedness. There was organizational set-up, wherein Ravi Shastri was present and his crew worked with Kohli like a machine. (Now that they have left), I feel there is an issue with compatibility also and when that happens, everything else starts mattering,” 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: Time For Virat Kohli To Focus On His Batting – Former Head Coach Ravi Shastri After Former’s Resignation As Test Captain