Time for Virat Kohli to govern Indian cricket team in all three formats?

Though the retirement of M.S. Dhoni from the longest format of the game took the cricket fraternity by storm as all were stunned by Dhoni announcing his immediate retirement out of nowhere but surely it can be said that it did not create any vacuum in the team as since his retirement Indian team has not lost a single Test series.

There were various speculations behind his retirement, first was external pressure from the media, second was the increasing closeness between Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri third one and the third one which seems to be a genuine one was the increasing failure of Indian cricket team on the foreign soil.

If we keep aside West Indies and Zimbabwe, from past 5 years the Indian team has not been able to win a single ODI and Test series outside the subcontinent. In fact, the Indian team has only won one Test till now in the prescribed period. Not only this as England team came here and defeated the Indian team at our home soil. Still, we wanted M.S. Dhoni to continue as captain in Test matches. Why? What is the season? The pro-Dhoni gang had no answer to this.

M.S. Dhoni has retired from Test cricket so we will not go deep into this and will put a break on this now itself.

Though Mahi failed as a captain but was helpful with the bat in that period. Also as a wicket-keeper, no one can question his stature even now. During this period, there was a member of the team who went on to overshadow captain with his brilliant performance and the member is none other than the successor of Dhoni in Test format Virat Kohli.

The way he turned from being a bad boy to the backbone of the Indian team is something for which he should be lauded, he is still an unstoppable force and other teams are yet to find an answer to counter Kohli?

Coming back to Dhoni’s captaincy, in past 1 and a half year the results have been shocking as Indian team even lost an ODI series to weak Bangladesh team followed by a series loss to South Africa in ODI’s and T20’s. The same South African team which lost the Test series that followed. Boom! Now that was a power punch from Kohli to the Africans. Also to take a note it was the same South African team what played ODI and T20 series prior to this one. It increased pressure on Dhoni.

After being kicked out from T20 World cup 2016, Dhoni was asked that whether he would retire or not to which he straightaway replied with a BIG NO.

Surely Dhoni is no mood to fulfil the unsaid wish of the fans but why? Even after suffering losses in England,South Africa, Australia, Bangladesh and many other places this fact is hard to fathom that why Dhoni is not quitting the captaincy himself. Why? Dhoni is behaving like an Indian politician who is surrounded by allegations but is in no mood to give his power as this would degrade his position and status.

If Dhoni were a player playing for England or Australia, they would remove him from that post in the year 2012 itself. The axing of Alastair Cook from ODI squad just before the World cup 2015, axing of the veteran batsman Ricky Ponting from ODI squad are the biggest examples which are capable of supporting the above fact. These boards have a tendency to replace the non-working machine with a working one without any delay which is not possible in Indian cricket.

So what’s next? I do not ask for Dhoni to be dropped but yes what I ask for is him being replaced as a captain. It is the correct time to hand over reigns to Virat Kohli before the start of Champions trophy which will kick off in 11 months from now. Kohli is now an experienced campaigner who understands the situation pretty well and not to say that he has already shown with the bat that what he can do. Along with that, he has been leading the Test team for past one year and the results are in his favour.

With the changing time now it is the time that Dhoni should understand the need of the hour and should himself leave the captaincy so as Virat can train the army in his own style. Though Dhoni has clearly stated his desire to play 2019 world cup but in my opinion, he is not the best choice as captain for the World cup.

I do not say that Dhoni should be dropped as he is still the best option at number 7 and also is the only option behind the wickets which Indian team has as of now because the team does not have a ready material for him who can fill in his shoes.

I am asking Dhoni to quit captaincy despite knowing the fact that he is not going to do so but the yes the Champions Trophy 2017 will decide his future as captain. In case he is able to emulate what he did 4 years ago, then even I will keep my feelings in my heart till 2019 but yes will voice concerns if does not happen.

In my opinion, it is the right time to give Kohli the charge so in the remaining two formats also for the benefit of the team as he is still 26 and will play for more than 10 years to come. Almost every player in the Indian team is below 30, so it will be an asset for him as he will have a chance to retain his army for a long time for the benefit of the team.

This was my opinion on this issue, one may come up with various views but this will not change my opinion for at least another one year till Champions trophy 2017. Dhoni still has one year to go and I will be the happiest person if he wins the Champions Trophy for India.