"No one asked him to leave Test captaincy" - Aakash Chopra on the possibility of bringing Virat Kohli back as India's Test captain
Aakash Chopra doesn't see Virat Kohli being reappointed India's Test captain, reasoning that he had himself given up the role.
Kohli gave up India's Test captaincy after the 2021-22 tour of South Africa. Before giving up the leadership role in the longest format, he stepped down as the T20I skipper and was removed by the selectors as the ODI captain.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra was asked about the possibility of bringing Kohli back as India's Test captain, to which he responded:
"He can be made but he won't be and maybe that's the right thing as well because no one asked him to leave Test captaincy. This thing has been cleared multiple times from different quarters that no one said that he won't remain the Test captain."
The former Indian opener pointed out that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was left in a quandary when Kohli stepped down as Test skipper and that he is unlikely to be reappointed now.
"In fact, when he took this decision that he won't remain the captain, the BCCI was taken aback slightly that what really happened, that they will have to search for a captain. So that was a slightly different thing but not now," Chopra added.
Chopra further added that Kohli might be seen playing for the next two years, but conceded that one needs to look forward in terms of the skipper.
"This World Cup's performance will decide Rohit Sharma's future as a captain across formats" - Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra was further asked about Rohit Sharma's future as India's skipper after the ODI World Cup, to which he replied:
"This World Cup's performance will decide Rohit Sharma's future as a captain across formats. He is already not there in T20s, the ODI and Test captaincy will go on until the World Cup but a call will be taken on both after the World Cup, that whether you need to continue under his leadership or a new captain will be chosen."
The cricketer-turned-commentator opined that Rohit might need to take India at least to the World Cup final to retain his Test and ODI captaincy:
"Nothing but a podium finish, if you play till the final and finish either one or two, you get some time. If that does not happen, you have already lost the T20 World Cup - you didn't reach the final, you are coming after losing the Asia Cup in the T20 format and here you have lost the WTC final."
Aakash Chopra added that the captain might be the first person to be sacked if India don't reach the final, especially considering that the World Cup will be played at home. However, he highlighted that he is only talking about Rohit as a captain and not as a player.