New Delhi: Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has said that Virat Kohli may give up captaincy in other formats also. Virat Kohli had already announced that he would give up T20 captaincy and the World Cup was his last assignment. Ravi Shastri said that Kohli is having to deal with the intense pressure associated with the job, especially in Covid-19 times. Kohli has taken a break for the T20 series and one Test against New Zealand to recover from bubble fatigue.
Shastri was asked about Kohli giving up captaincy in other formats to manage his workload better.
“In red ball cricket, India have been No.1 for the last five years under Kohli’s captaincy. Unless, he wants to give it up or he is mentally fatigued where he says he wants to focus on his batting which can happen in the near future,” Shastri was quoted as saying by ‘India Today.
“It won’t happen immediately but it can happen. The same might happen with white ball cricket. He might say he had enough and he focuses on Test captaincy. It is his mind and body that will make that decision. He won’t be the first. A lot of successful players have given up captaincy to focus on their batting for their side,” added the former Indian coach.
Shastri said Kohli remains the fittest cricketer in the team by far. “He is hungry for sure, fitter than anybody in the team. No doubt about that. When you are physically that fit, your longevity only increases. On the captaincy part of it, it will be his decision but I see if anything he might say no to white ball cricket captaincy. However, for red ball, he should carry on because he has been the best ambassador for the Test cricket,” Shastri pointed out.
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Shastri also foresees many players in the team, including Kohli taking long breaks to recover from bubble fatigue. He also spoke on the relevance of split captaincy in Covid-19 times.
“Especially, in these times it will reduce the pressure on the individual. A lot of players will take breaks. I foresee lot of players wanting breaks and rightly so. You need to switch off from the game from time to time,” Shastri stated.
Shastri reiterated that playing World Cup right after IPL was not ideal for the team. However, he didn’t want to blame BCCI as the re-scheduling happened because of Covid-19.
“I won’t say that but because IPL was cancelled in April, they (BCCI) had no choice. But I don’t think that will happen in the future. Kapil (Dev) is right about the scheduling part because it will take its toll,” Shastri said.
“It is not just the BCCI, every board has to be careful on scheduling. Don’t forget, we play more cricket than any other team in the world, if you add the IPL,” Shastri added.
Shastri was asked to comment on the two teams – New Zealand and Australia – who face off in the final Sunday.
“The teams that are playing in the final Sunday, they have hardly played in the last six months and you can see the difference. They have played enough to keep themselves sharp but they have got enough round of rest, at times forced as well,” Shastri said.
