Batting legend Virender Sehwag wants Virat Kohli to continue leading the Indian side in Test cricket and ODIs after the latter played his last T20I as a skipper on Monday (November 8).
The Men in Blue registered a consolation nine-wicket victory over Namibia in Kohli’s last game as a T20I captain to end their underwhelming T20 World Cup 2021 campaign on a high.
Ahead of the T20 World Cup, Kohli had announced that he will quit the captaincy of the shortest format to manage his workload.
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After India’s Super 12 stage exit from the showpiece event, questions were raised over Kohli's future as captain in the other two formats as well. However, Sehwag is not entertaining such opinions.
"This is Virat's decision but I don't think he should leave the rest two format's captaincy. If he wants to play just as a player, it is his decision. I feel under his captaincy, India is playing good and his record as a captain is brilliant," said Sehwag on his official Facebook page, reacting to a fan's question on whether Kohli should step down as captain from all forms of the game.
"He is a good player, an aggressive captain and leads from the front. I reiterate that leaving or not leaving captaincy in ODIs and Tests should be his personal decision," he further added.
Sehwag also asked Team India to introspect on their poor showing in ICC events. India last won an ICC tournament back in 2013.
"I know we should support the team during bad times but it's been a long time we haven't won any major ICC tournament. India should definitely introspect on it. Winning bilateral series is one thing but people only remember you if you win world tournaments consistently," he said.
Notably, Indian team was outclassed by Pakistan and New Zealand in their first two games of the ongoing T20 World Cup. Kohli and company may have bounced back in the tournament by thrashing Afghanistan and Scotland, but their semi-final hopes weren’t in their own hands anymore.
With New Zealand defeating Afghanistan in their Super 12 clash, India’s dream of qualifying to the semi-final diminished. The game against Namibia was a dead-rubber contest at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
(With ANI inputs)
