Ricky Ponting has said that he was shocked with the decision made by Virat Kohli to relinquish the Test captaincy in the aftermath of India’s loss in South Africa.
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Virat Kohli dropped a bombshell after the end of the Test series against South Africa in Cape Town. India lost the Test by seven wickets and the series 1-2. After registering a comprehensive win in Centurion at the end of 2021, India lost the Johannesburg and Newlands Tests by a similar margin of seven wickets. This thwarted their quest to win a Test series in South Africa for the first time. However, Virat Kohli announced that he was quitting as the Test captain following the defeat.
Virat Kohli ended as the third-most successful skipper in the history of Test cricket. He won 40 out of the 68 Tests he captained with a phenomenal success rate. India’s tour of South Africa went pear-shaped, getting whitewashed 3-0 in the ODIs. Before the South Africa tour, Kohli had stepped down as the T20I captain. He was asked to relinquish the ODI captaincy just before the team selection meeting.
Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting has expressed shock and surprise over the decision made by Virat Kohli. “He was talking then about stepping away (from captaincy) from white-ball cricket. How passionate he was to continue on to be Test match captain. He just loved and cherished that job and that post so much. When I heard it, I was really, really surprised. I was shocked. I had a chat and good catch-up with Virat during the first part of the IPL (2021) before it got postponed,” Ponting said in an episode of The ICC Review.
Read – Virat Kohli’s Sacking Affected India’s Performance – Salman Butt
The former Australia skipper, who is just behind Graeme Smith when it comes to success in Test match cricket, said that every captain has a shelf life in international cricket. Ponting led Australia to two World Cup triumphs in 2003 and 2011 as well as a 5-0 Ashes Whitewash in 2006/07. But, when he lost the ICC World Cup as well as the Ashes for the third straight time, he was asked to step down. A year later, Ponting retired from all forms of cricket.
“There is potentially a shelf-life for international cricket captains and even coaches. Virat’s been there for close to seven years now. If there’s a country in the world that’s the most difficult to captain, it’s probably India. Because of just how popular the game is and how much every single Indian loves to see the fortunes of the team. He is 33 years of age now and will want to continue playing for a few more years. I am sure (he will) have a crack at breaking some records that he is not far off breaking. Maybe if he does that as a batter and without the extra responsibility of captaincy, it might make it a bit easier for him,” Ponting said.
