Ravi Shastri all but confirms Virat Kohli wanted to be India's stop-gap Test captain before announcing retirement
Among all of Virat Kohli's 'let go' decisions in the last four years, his call to step down as India's Test captain in the early part of 2022 remains the toughest pill to swallow. Some may argue that his Test retirement announcement last month was bigger but one kind of saw it coming after the legendary cricketer went through a prolonged lean patch, which coincided with India's poor outings in their last two Test series against New Zealand (home) and Australia (away). The real bolt from the blue was when Kohli quit as India's Test captain after the 1-2 defeat in South Africa. That trumped Kohli's decision to announce he would quit as India's T20I captain after the World Cup, barely a month before the start of the tournament, purely because of India's dominance under Kohli in red-ball cricket. One always thought there was unfinished business.
The reports of Kohli wanting to get back as India Test captain after a poor show in Australia earlier this year gave more wind to it. Now, former India head coach Ravi Shastri all but confirmed Kohli's desires of getting the red-ball captaincy back, going to the extent of stating that if it was in his hands, he would have definitely given Kohli the opportunity to lead again.
According to multiple reports, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee did have a discussion after Kohli expressed his desires to become a stop-gap captain but they decided against it as they wanted to appoint a long-term captain and hence appointed Shubman Gill for the role.
"If I had anything to do with it, I would have made him captain, straightaway after Australia," Shastri said in a video shared by SonyLiv on social media.
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.
Kohli's decision came just days before the Indian squad for the five-Test series against England was to be announced.
"Virat has announced his retirement from Test matches, which is sad, you know, because he's a great player. A great player. It's only when you go that people truly realise how big a player you were. Stats don't do justice — it's about the way he carried himself, especially as an ambassador for Test match cricket, particularly overseas. The way he played at Lord's, and how his team turned things around — it was unreal. And I'm glad I was a part of it," Shastri said.
'I feel sad that he's gone the way he has — suddenly. I think it could have been handled better, maybe with more communication,' he added.
During India's tour of Australia earlier this year, there were reports about a cricketer trying to be 'Mr Fix-it' after India lost a couple of Test matches despite winning the first Test. The Indian Express report didn't name any cricketer but added that it was a senior member of the team who posed as an interim captain, trying to bring the team back on track. This was after Rohit Sharma had decided to drop himself from the playing XI for the last Test.
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