Jasprit Bumrah opened up about Virat Kohli’s decision to step down from Test captaincy after India’s 2-1 Test series defeat against South Africa, last week.
Revealing that Virat Kohli had talked to the team members regarding his decision to step down from the role, Bumrah remained tight-lipped on the proceedings, calling it a personal decision.
Jasprit Bumrah Revealed It’s Been A Pleasure To Play Under Virat Kohli’s Captaincy
Virat Kohli had stepped down from the Test captaincy role after the Test series ended in Cape Town, marking an end of an era of an astute leader in Indian cricket. Kohli had earlier relinquished his T20I captaincy role in November and a month later was removed from the ODI captaincy position with the selectors naming Rohit Sharma – the new white-ball captain.
“Virat Kohli told us about leaving his Test captaincy in a team meeting. It’s his decision. He knows his body. He knows his frame of mind. We respect that. It’s been a pleasure to play under his captaincy. I made my debut under him”
“He brought in energy. He brought in the fitness culture. He was driven. Everybody moved in one direction under his leadership. He has been immense and he will still be immense with his inputs,” said Bumrah ahead of the start of the three-match ODI series in Paarl against South Africa.
“We understand the change. All of us have played enough cricket. As a team, we will make positive contributions to that,” he added.
Talking about the ODI series, Jasprit Bumrah will feature in the vice-captaincy role while KL Rahul will be leading the Indian team after Rohit Sharma failed to recover in time from his hamstring injury. India will play two of the three ODIs in Paarl, starting January 19, and the final tie will be played in Cape Town.
Virat Kohli Stepped Down As India’s Most Successful Test Skipper
Jasprit Bumrah has lauded Virat Kohli’s contribution as the captain of the Indian Test team. The latter on Saturday decided to step down from his post after serving the team for seven long years. Virat Kohli, through a social media post, announced his decision that took the entire cricketing world and fans by surprise.
Virat Kohli’s decision comes a day after India was defeated by South Africa in the Cape Town Test by 7 wickets. The tourists slumped from taking a 1-0 lead to lose the series 2-1. The 33-year-old led India in 68 games and won 40, becoming the country’s most successful Test captain in the process.
He led in 68 Test matches out of which the team registered victory in 40 games. He steps down from his role as India’s most successful Test captain. He is fourth in the list of captains with the most Test wins behind South Africa’s Graeme Smith (53) and Australian greats Ricky Ponting (43) and Steve Waugh (41).
Last year, the 33-year-old had stepped down as the T20I captain and then he was removed as the ODI leader later as the selectors wanted only one captain for the white-ball format.
