Virat Kohli quits Test captaincy: MS Dhoni’s prediction comes true as fans recall his ‘split captaincy’ statement

Virat Kohli, who first captained India at the Adelaide Test in 2014 against Australia, was appointed to the full-time role after M.S. Dhoni announced his retirement from the format following the drawn third Test against Australia in Melbourne in December 2014.

MS Dhoni with Virat Kohli (Source: Twitter)

Virat Kohli on Saturday (January 15) announced that he is stepping down as the captain of the Indian Test team. The shocking announcement came a day after India's 1-2 Test series defeat to South Africa in Cape Town.

Kohli, who first captained India at the Adelaide Test in 2014 against Australia, was appointed to the full-time role after M.S. Dhoni announced his retirement from the format following the drawn third Test against Australia in Melbourne in December 2014.

"It's been seven years of hard work, toil and relentless perseverance everyday to take the team in the right direction. I've done the job with absolute honesty and left nothing out there. Everything has to come to a halt at some stage and for me as Test Captain of India, it's now. There have been many ups and also some downs along the journey, but never has there been a lack of effort or lack of belief," Kohli posted on social media on Saturday.

pic.twitter.com/huBL6zZ7fZ — Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) January 15, 2022

Meanwhile, fans are now recalling Dhoni’s statement on how ‘split captaincy doesn’t work in India’ and relating it to the current scenario in the team.

In 2017, Dhoni stunned the Indian cricket fraternity with his decision to quit captaincy ahead of the ODI series against England. Explaining the reason behind his decision, the former India wicketkeeper-batter had said that he does not believe in having different captains for different formats.

"I don't believe in split captaincy. For the team there has to be only one leader...Split captaincy doesn't work in India, I was waiting for the right time. I wanted Virat to ease into the job. There is no wrong decision in it. This team has potential to do well in all three formats. I felt it was right time to move on," Dhoni said in his first media interaction after stepping down as ODI skipper.

Interestingly, fans are now speculating if Kohli has also stepped down as Test skipper due to split captaincy as the batter had stepped down as the T20I captain in November last year and then he was removed as the ODI leader as the selectors wanted one captain for the white-ball format – a role which has now been assigned to Rohit Sharma.

- MS DHONI left captaincy when he was just one match away from becoming the 3rd captain to lead a team in 200 ODI matches.

- VIRAT KOHLI left Test captaincy when he was one win away from becoming the 4th Most successful Test captain.

Our captains never played for records pic.twitter.com/jmZzztMsGD — atharva chaudhari (@atharva21236277) January 16, 2022

It is worth noting that, Team India first had different designated captains for white and red-ball cricket for nearly a year, from late 2007. Following Rahul Dravid’s resignation from captaincy after the tour of England in 2007 – this after he led the team to a 1-0 win in the Test series – MS Dhoni was appointed the T20 and ODI skipper, while Anil Kumble, retired from limited-overs internationals, was entrusted with the Test leadership role until he retired in November 2008.

Subsequently, when Dhoni announced his shock retirement from Test cricket in December 2014, Kohli took charge as captain even as the Ranchi man continued at the helm of the white-ball squad for two more years before passing on the baton at the start of 2017.