Had Kohli continued as captain, many would have found it difficult to digest: Ravi Shastri

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LEEDS, ENGLAND - JULY 05: India captain Virat Kohli chats with coach Ravi Shastri during India nets ahead of their Cricket World Cup Match against Sri Lanka at Headingley on July 05, 2019 in Leeds, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Ravi Shastri was on fire in his recent interview with one of the media houses. The former Indian coach went on to say that Virat Kohli could have easily captained Team India for the next two years. But, a lot of people wouldn’t have digested his success.

Virat Kohli stepped down from Test captaincy of Team India, a day after losing Test series to South Africa. Almost no one had expected such a strange decision coming from Virat Kohli so early. However, he was simply brilliant and impeccable as a leader when it comes to red-ball cricket. He led Team India to the first position from 6th position when he took the position from MS Dhoni.

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The right-handed batsman helped India in clinching a series win in Australia that is certainly one of the biggest milestones achieved by Indian cricket in the past decade. The star player injected a fitness regime in the team due to which now India is rated among the best fielding sides in international cricket. There is no doubt over the fact that Virat Kohli as a leader has contributed a lot to Indian cricket.

Ravi Shastri talked about Virat Kohli- The Test Captain in his recent interview with India Today. The former Indian coach asserted that Virat Kohli could have easily continued as a skipper for about two years. But, many people could not see the Delhiite succeed as a skipper.

“Whether Virat could have continued to lead India in Tests. For sure, he could have led India for at least 2 years because next two years India would be playing at home and who is coming over – 9 and 10 jacks, going by the rankings. But he would have then made it to 50-60 wins under his captaincy and a lot of people will not be able to digest that fact,” said Shastri in a chat with India Today.

Ravi Shastri added that he is an individual and everyone should respect his decision. As per him, the 33-year-old record is impeccable in red-ball cricket as a leader and he can’t understand why there is still a big question in his leadership qualities.

“Two years, he could have carried on but we should respect his decision. In any other country, this kind of record is incredible. You won against Australia, England and lost 1-2 to South Africa but still, there are debates if he should be the captain or not,” he added.

“Virat Kohli led India in 5-6 years in Tests and out of those, five years India was no. 1. No Indian captain has this kind of record and there are only a handful of captains over the world with this kind of record. So when the most successful captain decides to step down as captain it’s an individual’s decision because his record of 40 wins is unprecedented.”