SA vs IND, 2018: I hope captaincy does not burden Virat - Graeme Smith

Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 160 runs in the third One-day International earned him appreciation from some of the greats to have played the game and has certainly seen him apart from the rest of his compatriots. This time it’s former South Africa captain Graeme Smith who has praised Indian skipper as a player but he also hopes that the responsibility of captaincy doesn’t burden him.

Kohli is regarded as one of the great modern-day batsmen.

Smith earlier criticized Kohli’s captaincy strategy in the Test series after the tourists were 2-0 down in the three-match series and didn’t see him as India’s long-term captain.

Virat scored his 34^th ODI century in the third ODI match at the Newlands in Cape Town. This was his second score of hundred or more in three matches in the ongoing series and his 12^th ODI century after becoming the captain of the Indian team.

Virat Kohli is the only batsmen in the world whose average is above 50 in all formats of the game (Test-53.40, ODI- 57.34, T20I-52.86).

Smith said, “Virat is an incredible player. My comments on his captaincy were constructive. I hope captaincy does not burden Virat. He will mature as a captain with time and he holds the Indian team together.” 

Smith also spoke on his earlier criticism of Kohli as a captain:

 “I don’t know, when I look at him, if he is a long-term captaincy option for India,” Smith said. “At the end of this year, he’d have been away from home for a while, the pressure he’ll face, the scrutiny from the press – I know he only gets that in India – but if you’re away from home and you’re struggling for form as a team, I don’t know if I’d want to burden Virat Kohli with that… Or if India have a better leader in that environment.”

Here’s the news feed:

Kohli is One of The Best Batsmen I Have Ever Seen in My Life – Kumar Sangakkara

Virat Kohli is My Idol – Shubman Gill