Virat Kohli stepped down as Test captain after 2-1 series loss to South Africa earlier this month.
Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh reacted to Ravi Shastri’s comment of ‘people wouldn't have digested Virat Kohli’s success as the Indian Test skipper had he captained team couple of years more'.
Virat Kohli shocked many when he suddenly announced his decision to step down as the Indian Test skipper through a social media post on Saturday (15th January). This came after India lost the three-match Test series to South Africa 1-2.
Recently, while talking about Kohli’s decision to step down as the Indian Test skipper, former head coach Ravi Shastri said that with Team India scheduled to play a majority of Test matches at home in the next two years, the 33-year-old could’ve captained the team for a couple of years more.
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He remarked that playing as a skipper for a couple of years more could’ve only contributed to his stellar record as a captain but many people wouldn't have digested his success'.
Reacting to Ravi Shastri’s comments, former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh said that he doesn’t know whom the former head coach is referring to but the right-hander’s success would’ve made fans immensely happy and proud.
"This is a big statement - Ravi Shastri saying that people wouldn't have digested it had Virat Kohli won another 15-20 Test matches and enhanced his legacy as India's most successful captain.
“I don't know who he is talking about, who wouldn't have digested it but we Indians would have been extremely proud of it. We would have wished he won another 40 and created a record that another Indian captain would have needed to captain twice to match it," Harbhajan Singh said on Sports Tak.
Singh, referring to Shastri’s comments, said that they cannot pre-determine the results of matches that are scheduled to take place in India. He admitted even though the team had great success at home, only time would’ve told if Kohli would’ve won those matches or not.
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He added that with Rahul Dravid as a coach, the pitches used will not have the spin from the first over and batters would be given fair chances to prove themselves.
"The matches that are to take place in India, you cannot pre-determine that their outcomes will go in your favor. Yes, you had some great series where you were extremely successful, but going forward, whether Kohli would have won those matches is something only time would have told.
“With Rahul Dravid as a coach, I don’t think India would play on surfaces where the ball would spin from the first over. In fact, I feel there will be pitches where batters too would get a fair chance to prove themselves," he said.
Harbhajan Singh further raised concerns over Team India batters, saying that they have forgotten how to score runs.
Adding to his, former Indian cricketer pointed out that batters are down on confidence and are under pressure due to a lack of runs. He highlighted that even though India is winning series at home, their players aren’t growing.
"Also, in the last two-three years, if you are to take out statistics of Indian batters, you would see that perhaps they don't know how to score runs. Our batters have forgotten how to score runs.
“The confidence of batters are down because they don't have much runs in the last 2-3 years. And when there aren't runs, players are under pressure. You are winning series at home but your players aren't growing,” he said.
(Sports Tak inputs)