Virat Kohli Has a Tendency to Quit When His Captaincy is Under Threat, Says Sanjay Manjrekar

He felt that Virat Kohli didn't want anyone to sack him as the captain.

New Delhi, Jan 16: Just a day after India lost the Test series to Dean Elgar led South Africa by 2-1, red-ball captain Virat Kohli has decided to step away completely from international cricket captaincy as he gave up his role from the longest format of the game following the defeat.

After taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match Test series, India were termed as favorites to clinch the series, but the Proteas held their nerves and came back from behind to script a memorable series win.

Former India cricketer turned commentator, Sanjay Manjrekar has made a big controversial remark regarding the departing captain as he believes that the Royal Challengers Bangalore man has a tendency to quit when his captaincy is in jeopardy.

After Kohli announced his decision, many current and former cricketers congratulated him for taking the Test team to newer heights. However, speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Manjrekar pointed out that Kohli’s tenure as captain came to an end across all formats very quickly.

“It’s come one after the other in a very short span of time, giving up the white-ball captaincy and IPL captaincy as well. This also was unexpected, but it is interesting that all these three resignations of important positions have come so quickly one after the other,” Manjrekar was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

Manjrekar felt that Virat Kohli didn’t want anyone to sack him as the captain.

“I think, in some way, he wants to make himself unsackable as captain. When he gets that vibe that his captaincy is under threat, he tends to quit,” he added.

Kohli, who first captained India at the Adelaide Test in 2014 against Australia, was handed the role full-time after MS Dhoni announced his retirement from the format ahead of the fourth Test at Sydney in January 2015.

Kohli stepped down from Test captaincy as the most successful skipper in the longest format of the game for India and fourth overall. During his time as the captain, India played 68 Tests, winning 40, losing 17 and drawing 11 matches. He had a win percentage of 58.82 and during his tenure, the team registered memorable wins in overseas and home conditions.

It also means that the Cape Town Test was the last match for Kohli as India captain.

(With Inputs From IANS)