Former West Indies captain and swashbuckling batsman Sir Viv Richards has penned down a special praise for India’s outgoing Test captain, Virat Kohli, who made a surprising announcement of stepping down as the Test skipper on Saturday evening.
This decision by Virat Kohli comes amid his ongoing tussle with the board, BCCI, over the past few months. He had resigned as T20I skipper ahead of the T20 World Cup. Then the BCCI stripped him off as ODI captain as they wanted only one player – Rohit Sharma in this case – to lead in both the white-ball formats.
Kohli had had contradictory public exchanges with BCCI President Sourav Ganguly and Cheif selector Chetan Sharma late last year. And now, his sudden announcement of relinquishing Test captaincy, despite being India’s most successful Test skipper, indicates more wrangle between the Delhi-born and the board.
But, for now, fans have been celebrating his legacy as the Test captain. Several former cricketers have hailed Kohli’s tenure. Among those is one special former cricketer and one of Virat Kohli’s heroes, Sir Viv Richards.
Richards took to Twitter to congratulate Kohli on his successful run as India’s figurehead. He inked Kohli as one of the best leaders the game has had.
“Congratulations @imVkohli on a stunning run as the Indian captain. You can be very proud of what you have achieved so far, and for sure, your name will be up there among the best leaders in world cricket,” Sir Viv Richards tweeted.
Here check out the tweet from the great West Indian:
Congratulations @imVkohli on a stunning run as the Indian captain. You can be very proud of what you have achieved so far, and for sure, your name will be up there among the best leaders in world cricket ? https://t.co/DieCKL4bhE
— Sir Vivian Richards (@ivivianrichards) January 15, 2022
Taking the full-time Test captaincy in early 2015, Virat Kohli took the team when it was in the doldrums languishing at number 7 and propelled it to the number 1 ranking.
He led the nation in 68 Tests, winnings 40 of those – the fourth-most number of wins for any Test captain – losing 17 and drawing 11. Of his 40 wins, 16 came overseas. He was by far India’s most successful Test captain; next on the list are Dhoni (27 wins from 60 matches) and Sourav Ganguly (21 wins out of 49).
Rohit Sharma, the new ODI and T20I captain and the Test vice-captain, is likely to be the next Test captain as well. India’s next series is at home against Sri Lanka in February-March, when Kohli is expected to play in his 100th Test.
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