"Feel Sad The Way Virat Kohli's Gone": Ravi Shastri Grills BCCI, Triggers Fresh Debate
Former India coach Ravi Shastri feels Virat Kohli's Test retirement could have been handled better as he deserved a proper farewell and said he would have reinstated him as captain after the Australia series. Kohli called time on his Test career last month, finishing with 123 matches, 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85, including 30 centuries. "When you go, that's when people realise how big a player he was. I feel sad that he is gone, the way he is gone. I think it could have been handled better, there should have been more communication," Shastri said in a video shared by SonyLiv on social media.
Kohli's decision came just days before the Indian squad for the five-Test series against England was to be announced.
Shastri, who coached India during their historic Test series wins in Australia under Kohli's leadership, said he would have reinstated him as captain after India's 1-3 loss to Australia earlier this year.
"If I had anything to do with it, I would have made him captain, straightaway after Australia," Shastri said.
Following Kohli's retirement and skipper Rohit Sharma's exit from the format, selectors appointed Shubman Gill as captain for the England series, which begins on June 20.
India's Test squad for England series: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.
England squad for first Test vs India: Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Ben Stokes (capt), Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes.
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