"The T20 World Cup will be very crucial for Virat Kohli's captaincy career" - Saba Karim
Saba Karim has opined that the upcoming T20 World Cup could be the defining moment of Virat Kohli's captaincy career.
Virat Kohli has failed to win an ICC trophy as skipper to date. There have been suggestions in certain quarters that Team India should opt for split captaincy, with Rohit Sharma at the helm of affairs in limited-overs cricket.
During a discussion on India News, Saba Karim highlighted the importance of the forthcoming T20 World Cup in Virat Kohli's career as a skipper.
"The T20 World Cup will be very crucial for Virat Kohli's captaincy career. I feel the pressure is increasing on him. He himself knows that he has not won an ICC trophy as a skipper. He will put in utmost effort to ensure that India wins this World Cup."
While expressing hope that India triumphs at the T20 World Cup, the former wicket-keeper pointed out that Virat Kohli can take a call on his captaincy career post the tournament.
"I have the expectation that India will win this trophy on 14th November. Then I feel Virat Kohli will get breathing space. Then he can assess for how long he wants to captain after that, he can evaluate if there is too much pressure on him."
Virat Kohli has captained Team India in three ICC tournaments to date. While they fell at the last hurdle in the 2017 Champions Trophy and the recent WTC final, they were eliminated at the semi-final stage in the 2019 ODI World Cup.
"Virat Kohli will definitely want to improve there" - Reetinder Sodhi
Reetinder Sodhi also concurred with Saba Karim that the pressure is mounting on Virat Kohli.
"If you talk about pressure, it is definitely there because you have not won an ICC tournament, which is very much required. You have been the captain for such a long time but in crunch moments our team has come under pressure and lost. So Virat Kohli will definitely want to improve there."
However, the former India all-rounder wants Virat Kohli to take the final call on continuing as skipper even if India fails to win the T20 World Cup.
"But I want to support Virat Kohli because over the years he has captained for so many matches and never done anything wrong. If we win the T20 World Cup, Virat should definitely remain the captain. If we don't win, God forbid, then I feel it should be left to Virat."
Team India has emerged victorious in 27 of the 45 T20Is they have played under Virat Kohli's leadership. The 32-year-old will hope to give a fitting reply to all his critics by winning the T20 World Cup.