A fiery career ends on a sombre note as Kohli hangs up his hat

Express News Service

CHENNAI: The mood in the Cape Town dressing room was already sombre on Friday. Another opportunity, arguably their best, to become the first Indian team to win a series in South Africa had gone begging. Even as the team and the support staff were coming to terms with it, Virat Kohli delivered one more blow – that he won’t continue as Test captain.

And nearly 24 hours later, out came the confirmation with Kohli tweeting his farewell message. “It’s been 7 years of hard work, toil and relentless perseverance everyday to take the team in the right direction. I’ve done the job with absolute honesty and left nothing out there. Everything has to come to a halt at some stage and for me as Test Captain of India, it’s now, Kohli tweeted.

India’s most successful Test captain ever with 40 wins–he stands fourth in ratings among captains with most wins– one who retained the Test championship maze for six years, will no longer be the skipper. Only four months after relinquishing the T20 captaincy in order to ‘give myself space to be fully ready to lead the Indian team in Test and ODI cricket’ Kohli has had enough.

Within the team, though the initial reaction was shock, it is not something that a news that came out of the blue. In fact, ever since couple of senior players expressed reservation over his authoritative style of functioning, those in the dressing room have revealed how the 33-year-old has seldom been his usual stuff. Moreover, the tussle with the board officials too has contributed. Apart from disagreeing with BCCI president Sourav Ganguly for the manner in which he was sacked as ODI captain, it is reliably learnt that the board officials have stopped communicating with Kohli. To put in simple terms, he longer enjoys the backing of the BCCI, which past Indian captains have had.

Although the BCCI was not looking to remove him as Test captain, given his unmatched credentials, Kohli has done it on his own. That he no longer has his trusted lieutenant Ravi Shastri too would have made the decision a lot easier.

Kohli leaves a huge void to fill as the Test team, unlike the limited-overs doesn’t have a ready-made captain in waiting. One of KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma is likely to be made the Test captain.