"Is he comfortable?" - Saba Karim urges selectors to constantly engage with Virat Kohli
Saba Karim has rubbished the concerns around Virat Kohli's leadership acumen and has labeled them 'unnecessary'.
The former Indian wicketkeeper, however, also opined that the team selectors need to constantly communicate with Kohli to make sure he isn't feeling under the pump of being at the helm in all three formats.
Virat Kohli's captaincy has remained under the scanner since forever. Though India maintained the number one spot in Test rankings for a long time under him, Kohli is yet to lead the country to an ICC trophy.
Earlier, it was only Rohit Sharma breathing down his neck for the role. But now, after India's historic Test triumph in Australia, the rumblings to elevate Ajinkya Rahane have grown louder as well.
Interacting exclusively with Sportskeeda's Indranil Basu, Saba Karim talked about the upcoming responsibilities in all formats and hoped that the stakeholders will reach a solution.
"To be honest, I feel all such discussions are quite unnecessary... At the same time, I feel that it is equally important for the selectors to have this constant engagement with Virat in the terms of his responsibilities as a captain in all three formats. You have to allow that kind of space to a player like Virat Kohli who has led the side with distinction for so many years.
"Is he comfortable leading all three formats? Because this is the year we play the T20 World Cup, we have the ODI World Cup coming up, plus the Test matches are now part of a World Test series. Is he happy with the kind of responsibility that is given to him? If you have this kind of conversation with the captain, I am sure Virat, Ajinkya Rahane and the team management will come up with the right kind of solution to ease the pressure from Virat," said Saba Karim.
We should feel blessed to have Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane: Saba Karim
Saba Karim further remarked that the fans should be happy to have both the fire of Virat Kohli and the serenity of Ajinkya Rahane in Team India.
"We should feel blessed because we have 2 senior players who can lead the side: Virat Kohli as captain and Ajinkya Rahane as vice-captain. And it is good to have diverse personalities in a team as leaders. One lead with so much aggression, the other is very calm but the result is the same and both are extremely effective. They know how to handle tough situations and how to inspire their colleagues and that's what India needs at this stage," said Saba Karim.
Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ajinkya Rahane will join forces again in the upcoming 4-Test series against England which is set to commence on February 5th.