Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra stated that Virat Kohli's captaincy in T20Is had been unfairly criticized, and claimed that Kohli had been put on trials by fans after India’s group stage elimination from the T20 World Cup in the UAE last year.

Chopra stated that despite Kohli's captaincy having some flaws, he was held accountable for "one bad day."

“There was just one T20 world cup, that he played as a captain. To be blamed because of just one bad day, it was unfair towards him,” he said in the ShareChat Audio Chatroom session- ‘CricChat powered by Parimatch’.

“Not that I am a Kohli captaincy fan, I saw flaws in his captaincy and criticized where required, but a trial by fans situation shouldn’t have been created,” he added.

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Virat stepped down as the captain after the 2021 T20 World Cup. India's unexpected exit came as a result of their losses to Pakistan in their opening match and to New Zealand in their second match.

The former cricketer also hailed Hardik Pandya, referring to him as a potential successor to Rohit Sharma as Indian captain.

”Since Rohit Sharma won’t get any younger, a plan of succession is required. Hardik Pandya could lead the Indian Team”, he said.

India defeated Pakistan in their Asia Cup 2022 opener which turned out to be a nail-biting contest.

“The India-Pakistan match lived up to the hype, it was a tug of war leaning to either side every second. As a broadcaster, it was my job to remain neutral, but it was an India-Pakistan match after all. I just wanted India to win,” Chopra said while talking about the game.

At the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday (September 4), India will take on the winner of the Group A match between Pakistan and Hong Kong on Friday (September 2).

(SHARECHAT INPUTS)