Thank you Test Captain Virat Kohli

[sandeep]

I have been a frequent critic of his white ball leadership, and even some his selection choices in red ball cricket.  I have repeated hurled 'Kuptaan Wrogn' at him on this forum and elsewhere.  

 

But, in test cricket, when its all said and done, looking at his overall tenure, Virat Kohli has been an excellent captain for Indian cricket.  To him and him alone, should go the credit for instilling the policy of playing 5 bowlers and trying to win test matches.  To him and him alone goes credit for that change in mindset, and willingness to take risks and back his choices - even though some of those were utterly wrong.  You can't appreciate him for backing Rohit Sharma as test opener once it succeeds, while criticizing him for playing Karn Sharma ahead of Ashwin on a track helpful for spin.  Its a package deal.  

 

Did the team fall short of our expectations at times? Definitely.  Did they give away 'winnable' test matches away from home? Yes, at times. But no Captain or leader, gets everything right all the time.  By and large, Virat should be appreciated for his contributions and leadership of the test match team.  

 

Thank you Virat.  

[Majestic]

Definitely one of the great test captains. You could give credit for various things to various people but one thing which was changed only by Virat Kohli was that no opposition captain or opposition bowler in the game would ever think of sledging any Indian batsman in front of Kohli.

 

That changed in Kohli's era and it probably ends with Kohli's era too.

Edited January 15, 2022 by Majestic

[Lord]

Had his flaws and major ones,but no doubt the best skipper we had in Tests

[AKane]

Walked away at the right time.

 

Kudos Mr Kohli.

[Sean Bradley]

Virat was past his shelf life as captain in all formats. Only thing commendable about Kohli was his backing of Fast Bowlers. 

 

Kohli was extremely bitter in the 3rd test, which was clearly visible from his antiques. He was exuding negative energy. 

 

This is in the Best Interest of the Team. Thanks but No Thanks Kohli. For me he's a captain with good record, never a leader, or a role model. 

[BacktoCricaddict]

15 minutes ago, sandeep said:

I have been a frequent critic of his white ball leadership, and even some his selection choices in red ball cricket.  I have repeated hurled 'Kuptaan Wrogn' at him on this forum and elsewhere.  

 

But, in test cricket, when its all said and done, looking at his overall tenure, Virat Kohli has been an excellent captain for Indian cricket.  To him and him alone, should go the credit for instilling the policy of playing 5 bowlers and trying to win test matches.  To him and him alone goes credit for that change in mindset, and willingness to take risks and back his choices - even though some of those were utterly wrong.  You can't appreciate him for backing Rohit Sharma as test opener once it succeeds, while criticizing him for playing Karn Sharma ahead of Ashwin on a track helpful for spin.  Its a package deal.  

 

Did the team fall short of our expectations at times? Definitely.  Did they give away 'winnable' test matches away from home? Yes, at times. But no Captain or leader, gets everything right all the time.  By and large, Virat should be appreciated for his contributions and leadership of the test match team.  

 

Thank you Virat.  

 

Nothing more to say.  I hope that this allows him to stay focused on his batting and contribute to the team's success as a batsman.  At his level of physical fitness, he has several years left in him, if he can sort out his technical flaws.   

[Sooda]

3 minutes ago, Sean Bradley said:

Virat was past his shelf life as captain in all formats. Only thing commendable about Kohli was his backing of Fast Bowlers. 

 

Kohli was extremely bitter in the 3rd test, which was clearly visible from his antiques. He was exuding negative energy. 

 

This is in the Best Interest of the Team. Thanks but No Thanks Kohli. For me he's a captain with good record, never a leader, or a role model. 

 

It was that personality of his that made him that captain with a good record though. He was no tactical genius; what he was was someone who sheer force of personality ensured that India maintained intensity through out a session/day/test. Even under MSD we allowed tests to drift so many times. Virat would never allow that. And as part of that was his aggression, backing of pacemen and playing 5 bowlers

 

His behaviour on pitch left a lot to be desired too often, but for what it's worth anyone who has met him off it only has nice things to say...

[goose]

 

[kubrickian]

Definitely a great captain. Hope the selectors convince him to change his decision as he can lead for another year at least and maybe groom the next captain in the meanwhile. Cant see anyone capable of leading the test team at the moment. 

[Real McCoy]

Thank you, Virat (this is probably the first time I'm addressing him as such ). He was not a bad test captain but he had the potential to be the greatest captain India has produced. He knew he needed pace bowlers to win abroad. He backed them to the hilt only for his other idiosyncracies, biases in team selection and general stupidity to peg him down. He for the most part batted better as captain compared to his predecessors which is great and a bit strange. He is both new India and old India - new as in brash, aggressive, in your face battler, fitness freak, sledging, etc and old as in politics, team selection not on merit, making juniors uncomfortable, bollywood wife wanting a photo with the team in full regalia, etc,

He could have been better if he selected without jealousy, nepotism, etc and made a strong core of 7-8 players that will back him up when needed. As they stand, he leaves without an heir apparent. KLR is not the one. We can speculate whether BCCI finally had the balls and finesse to ask him to resign but if you look at things as they appear, he found the right time to leave. Well done on the test captaincy and hopefully we get a few more years of improved batting to come like the one Kohli is known for.

[ThirtyD.]

Definitely an improvement over past captains and made us believe that winning in SENA (yeah okay, not “S”) is possible.

 

If we had showed a bit more courage and vision we could have built a solid team that could’ve dominated both overseas and home. Batting let India down on many occasions, including Kohlis dip in form; but I think he ought to be proud of his captaincy in tests.

 

Let’s hope KL Rahul or Rohit are not picked as Kohlis heir.

[Majestic]

The England series win was there for taking and so was the South African series win. You have to agree that this is indeed a fall!

 

Btw, the funny side remains that some of Kohli's PR were already celebrating and hyping Kohli's legacy as someone who would go on to win in Australia, South Africa and England as test captain but unfortunately it was just not meant for. 

Edited January 15, 2022 by Majestic

[maniac]

The difference between Kohli and Dhoni’s tenure are : Dhoni won a lot of moments while Kohli probably won a lot more matches.

 

Unfortunately, 

 

For example: the only somewhat decent knock Dhoni has ever played in an ICC tournament was the WC final and the last 6 now has become iconic. Similarly he featured in a lot of games in international or IPL which have those incredible moments that stuck with us. 
 

Kohli missed out on one of the epic moments in Indian cricket in recent times at the Gabba.

 

He was not there as skipper during the most watched cricket video on YouTube which was that magical Nidihaas trophy. Sure it was meaningless trophy but the moment is forever going to be etched in a lot of our memories.

 

Similarly, after the Ct debacle, when we won the Asia cup again he was missing.

 

that’s what matters in the end unfortunately. As Subramaniam Swamy once said people never vote on GDP, economy or other numbers they always vote on emotions. That’s how it works.

Kohli is not without his positives as I said elsewhere. He backed the fast bowlers really well but the negatives (as a captain) far outweigh the positives.

 

he had  issues with Kumble, Rohit,Ashwin, Ganguly . That’s almost like the whose who of Indian cricket. Imagine what must have happened to a junior player with no real backing.

 

Anyways today might not be the day for negatives so Thanks for the positive contribution.

 

Edited January 15, 2022 by maniac

[ravishingravi]

I think its fair to say, he took the work of Ganguly and Dravid forward in test cricket. This was a challenge given where Dhoni had left this team. 

 

But I hope he can be the best batsman in the world now. There is big green patch due before he calls its quits. 

[DeepSpace]

Hopefully, this helps him revive his career and form gives his technical weakness outside the off stump and lack of backfoot game.

Edited January 15, 2022 by DeepSpace

[goose]

solid tweet not your run of the mill 

 

 

[ShoonyaSifar]

1 hour ago, ravishingravi said:

I think its fair to say, he took the work of Ganguly and Dravid forward in test cricket. This was a challenge given where Dhoni had left this team. 

 

But I hope he can be the best batsman in the world now. There is big green patch due before he calls its quits. 

I'd go out on a limb and say he is finished as a batsman and will not have a revival like Sachin or Dravid had post their career slupms.

 

If he had quit captaincy even 6 months ago, there would still have been a chance but not now. His big fat ego (I don't think I need to prove anything to anyone) will be the biggest hindrance and I see it highly unlikely that he'll adjust playing under a new captain. The downfall will be very swift. Plus his toxic PR champus will not let him build an image of the elder statesman like Sachin, Dravid or VVS had playing under Dhoni.

 

Happy to chew my words though.

 

 

Edited January 15, 2022 by ShoonyaSifar

[goose]

‘immensely’ 

 

these two!

 

 

[ravishingravi]

19 minutes ago, ShoonyaSifar said:

I'd go out on a limb and say he is finished as a batsman and will not have a revival like Sachin or Dravid had post their career slupms.

 

If he had quit captaincy even 6 months ago, there would still have been a chance but not now. His big fat ego (I don't think I need to prove anything to anyone) will be the biggest hindrance and I see it highly unlikely that he'll adjust playing under a new captain. The downfall will be very swift. Plus his toxic PR champus will not let him build an image of the elder statesman like Sachin, Dravid or VVS had playing under Dhoni.

 

Happy to chew my words though.

 

 

 

My hunch is the same. But I think a player like Kohli lives on momentum. If he gets momentum, anything is possible.

[nikrulz]

Good decision! 

 

Hopefully he gets back his good ol' batting form....