"Would have made him captain straight away after Australia" - Former India coach's massive statement on Virat Kohli ahead of ENG vs IND 2025 series
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri believes Virat Kohli should have been made Test captain immediately after the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. The 36-year-old endured a dismal series with the bat as India suffered a 1-3 defeat to relinquish their Border-Gavaskar Trophy to Australia.
Kohli recently announced his retirement from Tests last month, with the all-important tour of England starting on June 20. Team India will play England in a five-Test affair to begin their 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle.
Speaking on Sony Sports about Kohli's sudden Test retirement, Shastri said (via India Today):
"It’s when you go, that’s when people will realise how big a player he was. I feel sad that he is gone, the way he’s gone. I think it could have been handled better. There should have been more communication. If I had anything to do with it, I would have made him captain straight away after Australia."
Kohli's retirement came a week after skipper Rohit Sharma retired from the long format after a poor season with the bat. It resulted in India appointing Shubman Gill as their Test captain, with his first assignment being the upcoming tour of England.
Virat Kohli finished as India's most successful Test captain
Virat Kohli finished his Test career as India's most successful red-ball captain, winning 40 out of 68 matches. Under his leadership, India dominated the Test rankings for the second half of the 2010s and finished as runners-up in the 2021 WTC edition.
Kohli also led India to their first-ever Test series win in Australia with a 2-1 result in 2018/19. The 36-year-old also captained India to a 2-1 series lead in England in 2021 before the tour was postponed due to COVID-19.
Captaincy aside, Virat Kohli also finished as India's fourth all-time leading run-scorer in Tests with 9,230 runs at an average of almost 47 in 123 outings. His 30 Test centuries also rank fourth among Indian batters behind only Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Sunil Gavaskar.
Despite a brilliant overall Test career, the veteran struggled with the bat since 2020, scoring only three centuries in his last 39 matches. The upcoming England tour will be India's first in Tests without Kohli since 2011.