Virat Kohli’s captaincy debate reignited after a match loss against England

Last updated on February 16th, 2021 at 06:54 am

It is not easy captaining a cricket team, especially in India given the enormous fan base that the sport holds. Leading a team is as it is a difficult job but for cricket, each loss and each win counts more than one can imagine and that might be to the extent of considering a change in captaincy. 

After the loss of the first test match in the ongoing series against England, experts have started pointing fingers at Virat Kohli’s captaincy. One of the first ones was Monty Panesar, former English cricketer, who whole talking to the Times of India said that Kohli should give up the captaincy if India loses the test series against England. 

He added that Kohli might just step down as he has already realized it. “India has already lost four Tests in a row and if the number goes to five in the next match, then I think he will step down from his role,” Panesar added.

Many fans on social media suggest that Kohli should pass the baton to Ajinkya Rahane after the latter led the team to victory against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar series just a month ago. Panesar feels that the selection of bowlers for the first test match cannot be justified in any way. 

“I just don’t understand why India would play Shahbaz Nadeem over Kuldeep Yadav. Kuldeep has been with the team for ages, he is bowling regularly in the nets and is in a rhythm. I don’t know how much Nadeem has played since the lockdown but Kuldeep should have started”, said the former English spinner. 

Apart from him, cricket commentator Sanjay Manjerekar also was quick to opinionate the loss saying that according to him, the selection of players was fair and it was definitely not a tactical error that took place on the field. However, he said that going ahead with Nadeem was where Kohli went wrong. He added that he is difficult to understand in such cases. 

He expressed that Kohli could have been more proactive when it comes to Nadeem. It is not the tactical part where India failed but as per Manjrekar, it was the ability that drove the team to the losing side. 

As for the match, the Indian bowlers did not click with the pitch. The pitch at the Chepauk stadium was tailor-made for players like Ashwin and Nadeem. They could not convert milk into butter. Shabaz Nadeem got nervous and so did Ashwin after he bowled a no-ball after the longest tomes. 

Cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar feels that there is a chance that Washington Sundar or Nadeem will be replaced by Kuldeep Yadav in the coming test match and also stressed that the Indian side should make sure to dismiss England for lesser than the score this time.