Former Australian cricketer Brad Hogg said that BCCI’s decision to sack Virat Kohli as the Indian ODI skipper may turn out to be a blessing in disguise for him and the team.
BCCI in a surprise announcement on 8th December sacked Virat Kohli as the ODI skipper and unveiled Rohit Sharma as the new full-time white-ball skipper.
By doing this, the governing body took a step forward in adopting the model of split-captaincy in the Indian cricket team as Rohit Sharma will be the skipper in white-ball formats while Virat Kohli will lead team in Tests.
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After the BCCI made the announcement, many fans and pundits were split regarding the development. While many felt that it was the right decision as it would ease the pressure off Virat Kohli, some were against it, saying that it was a harsh call by the governing body.
The latest to give his views was former Australian spinner Brad Hogg, who feels that Virat Kohli should embrace the decision and concentrate on Test captaincy. He pointed out that two captains in two different formats takes a lot of pressure off the player.
“I think this is a good move. Kohli should just embrace it and relax about the whole situation and should concentrate on captaining the Test team. So basically, you’ve got Rohit Sharma just concentrating on the team he wants in white-ball cricket and Virat Kohli focusing on Test cricket. It takes a lot of pressure off you,” Brad Hogg said in a video posted on his YouTube channel.
Hogg said that the only worry for Rohit Sharma should be a white-ball environment along with other commitments off the field. He added that with no pressure of white-ball captaincy, Virat Kohli’s performance with the bat, which was slightly off, will improve.
“Whereas Rohit Sharma has only got to worry about the white-ball environment plus all the sponsorship and other commitments off the field. I think this is going to be better for Virat Kohli. It is going to improve his performances which have slightly dropped off slightly in the last couple of years when he’s been under pressure while captaining all three teams,” he said.
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Brad Hogg further said that BCCI’s decision to sack Virat Kohli as the ODI skipper may turn out to be a blessing in disguise for him. He further hoped that the change room is not separated by the slight division between Kohli and Sharma.
“I think it’s a blessing in disguise. I just hope when they go on their next tour, that change room is not separated by this little slight division between these two particular players,” he said.
Both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will next be seen in action when India will tour South Africa, starting 26th December.
