Virat Kohli was under pressure after T20 World Cup 2021 debacle, says THIS former cricketer

Former India cricketer Atul Wassan further said that the scenario would have been different if Team India would have won the Test series in South Africa.

Former India captain Virat Kohli. (Source: Twitter)

Former India cricketer Atul Wassan on Sunday (January 16) said Team India’s debacle in the T20 World Cup 2021, had put Virat Kohli under a lot of pressure. Kohli on Saturday (January 15) stepped down as India’s Test captain after leading the side for seven years.

“Nothing shocks me. What shocked me was MS Dhoni quitting Test captaincy in the middle of the series in Australia. I think the way things have been going by the last couple of months India’s debacle in the T20 WC there was pressure on him. He is not getting runs. At times he is pointing fingers on other players and as a captain he must do that to egg them on and I totally support him for that but the problem was that earlier he was leading by example but lately the thing is that his batsmanship has come down,” Atul Wassan told news agency ANI.

“Every batsman, every player goes through that and it could accentuate that he was captaining all three formats. He also started the conundrum when he said he doesn’t want to do T20 captaincy which was the right decision but I think the board actually took it in a skewed manner and he never expected that he will lose his 50 over captaincy be his goal was to win the World Cup. This is what was missing from his cupboard,” he added.

Wassan further said that the scenario would have been different if Team India would have won the Test series in South Africa. “Things change quickly in world cricket and you when you are on razor’s edge you have to perform and that is why I have said Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara have to pull their weight and that is what Kohli must be thinking. He has won the World Cup already but as a captain it would have been cherry on the top and that is what he wanted,” said Wassan.

: Leading #TeamIndia for the first time on home soil in Tests, @imVkohli powered the side to a 3-0 series win against South Africa in 2015. pic.twitter.com/lGHmOcjG7k

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 16, 2022

“But looking at things he must have thought that I have to start WTC cycle again. He could not win a Test series in South Africa. Probably he could have won in South Africa then things could have been different,” he added.

Kohli has been the most successful Test captain India has ever produced. After taking over the reins from MS Dhoni, he has led India in 68 Test matches and secured 40 wins at a win percentage of 58.82. As Test captain, he registered his first series win against Sri Lanka in 2015, a victory that India registered in the Emerald Island after 22 years.

Under his leadership, Team India also scripted history as they registered their first Test series win in Australia in 2018, clinched series in the West Indies, attained the No.1 spot in Test rankings and later in the subsequent years marched into the maiden ICC World Test Championship Final in 2021.

Kohli also holds the impeccable record of winning 24 out of the 31 Tests played at home as captain, having lost only two Tests.

(with ANI inputs)