Sunil Gavaskar Predicts Virat Kohli Will Be More Productive Now After Stepping Down As Test Skipper

Sunil Gavaskar, the former Indian skipper believes Virat Kohli will be more productive as a batter now that he has stepped down from the captaincy. The 33-year-old has had a dry spell of sorts in the past couple of years as far as centuries are concerned.

Notable that Virat Kohli stepped down from Test captaincy in January after the series loss against South Africa. Now, as he is all set to play the 100th Test match of his career, it will be his first test match as non-captain since January 2015.

Virat Kohli captained India in 68 Tests with 40 wins and 17 losses as he took over from MS Dhoni who called it a day from the longest format midway in the series against Australia in 2014-15.

Sunil Gavaskar Predicts Virat Kohli Will Be More Productive After Stepping Down As Test Skipper

Sunil Gavaskar feels that since a captain has to think about a lot of things other than concentrating on his primary skill, Virat Kohli will now be able to focus more on improving as a batter. The former skipper will also be able to provide input as a senior member of the Indian team.

“If there are any issues with Kohli’s batting, he is going to be able to sort it out himself. The leader in you never goes because you want to make a contribution.

“But he is also going to be concentrating more on his own batting. So my feeling is that he will be more productive now than in the past couple of years.”

Sunil Gavaskar feels Virat Kohli has the capability to bat at No. 3. With the likes of veteran senior batsmen, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane dropped from the Indian Test team, No. 3 is a position that needs to be addressed immediately.

Virat Kohli so far scored 7962 runs in 99 Test matches with an average of 50.39 which included 27 tons and 28 fifties. He made his Test debut in 2011. His form, too, has become a topic of debate of late as he has now gone several international innings without a century in any format. His last ton was in 2019 against Bangladesh in Tests.

Sunil Gavaskar: The Decision Of Batting Position Should Be Left To Virat Kohli

While Sunil Gavaskar believes that Virat Kohli can play the role of both the aggressor as well as the accumulator, it should ultimately be his personal decision about whether he wants to change his batting position.

In this regard, he said: “I think it is something that the team management or Rohit needs to have a word with him. Kohli has the game for when a wicket falls early and also to shift gears when there is a partnership of more than a hundred.

“But if he is comfortable at No. 4 then do not disturb him. The decision should be left to him.”

Virat Kohli’s 100th Test will be played against Sri Lanka in Mohali from 4 March.