"We always remember winners of ICC tournaments" - Former England spinner on Virat Kohli's 'failed captain' remark
Former Team India skipper Virat Kohli believes that he is considered a failed captain by many because he wasn't able to clinch a single ICC trophy in senior cricket.
Kohli made these remarks while speaking on RCB Podcast Season 2. Reacting to the star batter's comments, former England spinner Monty Panesar emphasized that captaining a team like India is a high-pressure job.
The 40-year-old opined on Twitter that people only remember the teams that have won ICC tournaments and not the sides who finished second or third in those events.
"Unfortunately, that’s the pressure of being captain of India. No one remembers second or third place teams. We always remember winners of ICC tournaments."
Unfortunately that’s the pressure of being captain of India. No 1 remembers second or third place teams. We always remember winners of ICC tournaments. twitter.com/timesofindia/s…
Notably, while Virat Kohli failed to win an ICC trophy in his time at the helm of the Indian team, his captaincy stint has been praised by many.
Under the leadership of the RCB player, the Men in Blue reached the final of the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017 and the semi-final of the 2019 ICC ODI World Cup. They also played the final of the World Test Championship final in 2021.
"Never judged myself from that point of view" - Virat Kohli on not winning an ICC tournament as Team India captain
Virat Kohli believes that while he wasn't able to lead India to glory in ICC events as the skipper, he was pleased with the cultural changes he brought to the team.
Kohli highlighted that such cultural changes have a long-term impact. Highlighting his achievements, the right-handed batter stated that he had been a part of the teams that won the ICC ODI World Cup (2011) and the ICC Champions Trophy (2013).
The 34-year-old further added that during his career, India won the Test mace on five occasions, by topping the ICC Test rankings at the end of an year.
"I never judged myself from that point of view. What we ended up achieving as a team and as a cultural change for me, that's always going to be a matter of pride because a tournament happens for a certain period of time, but a culture happens over a long period of time, and for that you need consistency.
"For that, you need more character than just winning a tournament. So, I won the (2011) World Cup as a player, I won the (2013) Champions Trophy as a player, I've been part of a team that has won five Test maces."
Virat Kohli will next be seen in action during the upcoming third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia. The contest kicks off at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Wednesday, March 1.