Swann is of the belief that dismissing Kohli from his role as Team India skipper would be an absolute blunder.
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After what was a rather devastating and demoralizing loss for the Indian cricket team in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final, skipper Virat Kohli has been subjected to immense criticism over his captaincy skills. Kohli is yet to lead India on to a triumph in an ICC tournament. The nation’s last success in an ICC tournament dates back to 2013 when they won the ICC Champions Trophy under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Fans and some pundits have called for Kohli’s dismissal as skipper after repeated failures in the sport’s biggest competitions. However, former England bowler Graeme Swann has announced his support for the Indian skipper.
Swann is of the belief that dismissing Kohli from his role as skipper would be an absolute blunder on the part of the team. He praised Kohli for being a serial winner in the sport and an absolute champion. Swann also said that Kohli was 100% committed to the sport and to his team. He is of the belief that India’s loss at the hands of New Zealand was not because of Kohli’s mistakes as a captain, but simply because of the difference in the preparation of the two sides.
“Virat Kohli is an absolute champion and a superstar. He has added steel to the Indian team. You only have to see his passion whenever a wicket goes. (Look at) His face when there is a misfield. He is 100% committed to that job,” Swann said to Sportskeeda.
“To get rid of Virat Kohli at the moment, when you have such a good captain, would be an absolute crime against cricket. I don’t think they should look elsewhere. India lost that game because they were under-prepared and under-cooked going into that Test match,” he added.
Apart from being far better suited than the Indians to play in windy, overcast conditions, New Zealand had the advantage of playing a couple of competitive Test matches in England before the WTC final. That is what Swann believes gave the Kiwis just that much of an edge over the Indians. Kohli’s men, on the other hand only had to make do with intrasquad matches and net practice sessions.
“But it is very tricky when you think New Zealand had that two Test matches against England building up to this game. They knew their combination and were favorites for this Test match because of that. India just had net practice in Southampton,” Swann said.
“Nothing beats preparing for a Test match like actual Test match play. So New Zealand had everything in their favor when it came to who was going to win that game. That showed during the five days as India looked slightly rusty especially some of the batsmen,” he concluded.
India was quite heavily defeated in the final of the ICC World Test Championship. Put in to bat, India was bowled out for a low score of 217. In reply, the Kiwis managed to put 249 runs on the board and take a lead of 32 runs. In the second innings, Kohli’s men scored just 170 runs and set a target of 138 for New Zealand. Williamson’s players easily chased the total down with eight wickets in hand and were crowned the inaugural World Test Champions.
