Bharat Arun, former Indian bowling coach has expressed his surprise over Virat Kohli stepping down from the post of Test captaincy, saying that he never got a whiff of his future plans while speaking to him several times in the dressing room. Virat Kohli stepped down from the position of the Test captain a day after India were beaten 1-2 in a three-match Test series in South Africa.
Bharat Arun, 59, had two stints with the men’s team – first from 2014 to 2015 and then from 2017 until 2021. During this period he worked closely with Virat Kohli, who first led the country in Tests during the winter tour of Australia in 2014 before permanently taking over from MS Dhoni at the end of that series.
Bharat Arun Personally Felt That Virat Kohli Had At Least 2 Years To Captain India
Virat Kohli’s decision to quit Test captaincy helped raise quite a few eyebrows as he evolved into India’s most successful Test captain, winning 40 Tests in 68 matches. Virat Kohli had said in September last year that he wanted to continue as ODI and Test captain after announcing his decision to quit T20I captaincy. However, Virat Kohli was sacked as India’s ODI captain in December following India’s early exit at the 2021 T20I World Cup.
“I was personally surprised that Virat had given up captaincy because every time we had dialogues he was so passionate about leading the country.”
“He wanted India to be a dominating force in the world and I thought he had set a wonderful foundation. I personally feel that Virat had at least a couple of years to captain the country.”
Bharat Arun, who has been the mastermind behind India’s pace revolution, was twice part of India’s back-room staff. One was back in 2014 to 2015 and then from 2017 until 2021. All this while, he had seen a number of captains which included the likes of MS Dhoni and of course, Virat Kohli.
“I watched MS Dhoni, the coolest mind you could ever have. Nothing fazes him. If you have a mind that is cool, calm, calculative … that is the best state to take decisions on the go, because the decisions have to be very dynamic. You are making decisions on the go. Next to the Prime Minister, the Indian captain is the most enviable job in the country, so I think somebody who can take the pressure [is the right fit],” he said.
Virat Kohli’s decision to step down as the captain of the Indian Test team came as a surprise to the entire cricket fraternity, even those who knew him closely as a player, like the former India bowling coach Bharat Arun, who feels that the 33-year-old still had a few years left in him to lead the national side in the traditional format.
Bharat Arun also compared the job of an Indian cricket team captain to that of the Prime Minister of India, calling it the next “most enviable job”.
Bharat Arun: Rohit Sharma Had A Different Methodology To His Captaincy
Bharat Arun added that Rohit Sharma has a ‘different methodology’ to leadership. He rightly brought out the difference between the three. While Rohit Sharma being much like captain cool in his demeanour, Virat Kohli was the complete opposite.
“If you look at Virat Kohli and Dhoni, contrasting characters. But each one has his way of bringing something to the table. Once he is on the field, Virat is at the opposition. He wants to win at any cost. The energy he brought to the field was absolutely different. He was willing to lead by example, take the bull by its horn and that’s what the captain should do. If you look at Rohit Sharma, he has a different methodology to his captaincy but he is also equally successful.”
Later in January, a day after India lost the Test series in South Africa, Virat Kohli took to Twitter to announce that he is stepping down from Test captaincy. The ODI series that followed saw Virat Kohli playing as a player for the first time in seven years. India’s next assignment in Tests will be a series against Sri Lanka starting on February 25 after the conclusion of 3 ODIs and as many T20Is at home against West Indies.