Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar commented on Virat Kohli's sudden announcement of giving up Test captaincy despite India doing very well under his leadership in red-ball cricket.
Manjrekar was surprised with Kohli's decision to quit Test captaincy and he believes the ex-India captain took the step after getting a hint that his captaincy is under threat. Recently, Kohli had stepped down as T20I captain after the T20 World Cup 2021, and later BCCI sacked him as ODI captain.
Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Manjrekar said, "It’s come one after the other in a very short span of time - giving up the white-ball captaincy and IPL captaincy as well. This also was unexpected, but it is interesting that all these three resignations of important positions have come so quickly one after the other.
“I think, in some way, he wants to make himself unsackable as captain. When he gets that vibe that his captaincy is under threat, he tends to quit."
The ex-cricketer further spoke on the role of change in BCCI's regime in Kohli's decision to give up captaincy. Anil Kumble had to resign from the post after Kohli wasn't comfortable with him.
The 33-year-old shared a good bond with the former head coach Ravi Shastri, whose tenure came to an end with the conclusion of the T20 World Cup 2021.
"The landscape is changing, the scenario around Virat Kohli that allowed him to be himself and flourish. Ravi Shastri coming in. He was uncomfortable when Anil Kumble was the coach and once Shastri and the support staff came in, he felt comfortable. The new coach (Rahul Dravid) is no Ravi Shastri. He would have got some inkling of the kind of support he was going to get.
"The regime change in the BCCI also has something to do with all these important announcements that Virat has made. Clearly, a guy who finds himself outside his comfort zone. Individually, his batting is not at its best. All that has just added up. He is not in a great space at the moment. These are all emotional decisions that one can understand."
(With ESPNCricinfo Inputs)
