Former India all-rounder Madan Lal believes that the decision to sack Virat Kohli from ODI captaincy didn’t sit well with him which led him to step down from Test captaincy as well. On Saturday, Virat Kohli left everyone in shock as he announced to step down from Test captaincy with immediate effect.
It all started with an announcement in October in which Virat Kohli stated that he would step down from T20I captaincy after T20 World Cup which was held in October-November 2021. But a month later as the selectors met to pick a squad for the ODI series in South Africa, they made an announcement that Rohit Sharma would lead in ODI too citing the reason that they want a single captain in both white-ball formats. It’s the decision with which Virat showed lots of disappointment in the pre-departure press conference ahead of the South Africa tour.
Virat Kohli led India in 68 Test matches
Speaking to India Today, Madan Lal felt the same as he said that the ODI captaincy saga led him to make this decision.
“It has definitely surprised me that Virat Kohli has left Test captaincy. I think he is still very annoyed with the decision of the selectors or the board when they said you’re not going to be the captain of the 50-overs side. That I think he still has in mind, he is still thinking ‘why they removed from the 50-over format?” Madan Lal said.
“We knew he is going to be the captain for Tests, he was very successful series. I definitely think he is very annoyed with the selectors or the board that he was removed from 50-over captaincy,” he added.
The decision came on the back of India’s loss against South Africa in 3-match series by 2-1. In his 68-Test match career as a captain, Virat Kohli won 40 Tests and lost 17. He took over the Test captaincy in January 2015 when MS Dhoni called it a day from the longest format.
India’s next assignment in Test Cricket will be a 2-match series against Sri Lanka starting on February 25 which will also be Virat Kohli’s 100th Test match.
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