Former Indian head coach and currently a commentator in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, Ravi Shastri has the opinion that Virat Kohli should return as India captain in the absence of Rohit Sharma in case the current captain is not available for any international assignments.
Rohit Sharma had replaced Virat Kohli as the captain of the Indian team across formats after his resignation from limited overs cricket led to Kohli being removed as the captain in the test team as well.
Virat Kohli has also resigned from the regular captaincy job of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League but he has captained RCB in their last three matches since their captain Faf du Plessis is not good to take the field and has only been batting has an impact player in these games.
Ravi Shastri was quoted by ESPNCricinfo, “Once Rohit was injured, I thought Virat would captain. If I was still there – I’m sure Rahul [Dravid] might have done the same thing, I have not spoken to him – I would’ve recommended to the board that it’s only fair he leads because he was captain of the team that was leading 2-1 in the series and probably could have got the best [out of the team].”
Ravi Shastri said Virat Kohli has been looking in top form and most importantly, he has been able to overcome the challenges that he faced over the last few years mentally with his batting performance also going down drastically.
Apart from leading India in all three formats, Virat Kohli was also the premier batsmen for the team scoring big runs constantly but he has not been able to do so especially in test cricket where he has not scored a century for more than three years now.
“He’s in a very good space, enjoying his cricket. That’s the feeling I got as opposed to the last year when we were sitting and discussing does he need a break, does he not need a break. He seemed to have the burden of the whole world on his shoulders.
“Now it’s refreshing. The enthusiasm, passionate energy and enjoyment have come back, which for me was the best thing to see. Runs you might or might not get but when you see someone, and the passion, enjoyment and drive is back again, it’s good,” the former India coach said.