Virat Kohli should have continued longer as Test captain: Former India coach

Former India cricketer Sanjay Bangar had made an audacious claim that star batter Virat Kohli should have continued for an extended period as a Test skipper. Notably, the 35-year-old cricketer has finished his Test captaincy stint as one of the most successful skippers in red-ball history. The stylish right-handed batter guided Team India to win the 40 Test matches and places himself in the elite list of most successful Test captains after Graeme Smith, Ricky Ponting, and Steve Waugh. Kohli thrived when he was given Test responsibility during the 2014–15 tour of Australia. The swashbuckling batter has racked up 5,864 runs at an average of 54.80 as a Test skipper.

However, Kohli stepped down as India’s Test captain after the 2022 Test series, which India lost by 1-2 despite winning the opening match at the Centurion. His resignation as Test captain was a shocking decision for a plethora of fans and cricket pundits, including Bangar, who feels that Kohli should have continued to lead the side.

“Captaincy of the Indian team is a 24/7 job. Even though I personally feel he could have continued a bit longer as Test captain,” Bangar said on The Rao Podcast.

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He himself achieved enormous levels of fitness and challenged his physical limits to the hilt: Sanjay Bangar

Sanjay Bangar, a former India batting coach who worked with Virat Kohli during his captaincy tenure, stated that the RCB stalwart has been one of the greatest players who has taken the Men in Blue to the epitome of the level for the first time in Test cricket history and registered the most number of wins. The 51-year-old cricketer feels that Virat Kohli has brought about a big change in fitness and racked up maximum runs under his captaincy stint, along with working extremely hard.

“He himself achieved enormous levels of fitness and challenged his physical limits to the hilt. He worked the hardest.  I think he scored the maximum runs during that period as a captain and he had that drive,” he added.

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