No one in Team India anticipated Virat Kohli to step down as Test captain after the South Africa series, according to Indian seamer Shardul Thakur.
After India's 1-2 Test series loss in South Africa, Kohli announced that he was stepping down as Test captain. The decision stunned the cricketing world, as despite losing the white-ball captaincy of the side, Kohli was expected to captain India in Tests for 2-3 years more.
Under Kohli's guidance, Shardul Thakur became a match-winner for India in all three forms. The 30-year-old has a flair for taking important wickets and has recently demonstrated his batting abilities with half-centuries in Australia and England.
When Kohli announced his departure, the Mumbai player said it was an emotional time for everyone because India performed admirably in international conditions under his leadership.
“It was an emotional moment for everyone. No one expected that he would resign from Test captaincy. We did well under his captaincy, especially overseas. Those series we lost overseas were close ones. The team was doing well under him and no one expected this. However, now that he has made his decision, everyone should respect it," Thakur told Indian Express.
The 30-year-old also discussed India's Test series loss to South Africa, in which the bowlers failed to defend a 200-plus total twice against South Africa.
“In those two Tests, luck wasn’t on our side. There were many times when their batsman edged, but the ball fell short or flew above us. We later realized that edges will not carry, so our fielders came closer. We were unlucky many times. Once they were 150 for 3, and we bowled them out.
Once you are chasing 200-plus, there is confidence in the dressing room that it is chaseable. But if the target is 300-plus in the fourth innings, pressure starts to build up. In those two Test matches, we lost as our bowling and fielding unit didn’t carry the luck with ourselves," he said.
Shardul is a member of India's limited-overs team for the forthcoming series against the West Indies. Shardul will be tasked with leading the bowling attack in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami.
(Indian Express inputs)
