The Indian cricket team, which had a phenomenal 2017, began their new year on a very low note. Virat Kohli & Co, found themselves at the receiving end when they played South Africa at their home after 4 years. The Indian men lost the first game in Capetown by 72 runs and the second by 135 runs in Centurion and thus, lost the series by 0-2. Post this defeat, Kohli had to face unending criticism from the cricket Pundits. Ahead of the third and the last face-off in Johannesburg, former Protea captain Graeme Smith has suggested that Kohli may not be the one to lead India in the long run.
As reported by the Times Now, while speaking to former Zimbabwe bowler Pommie Mbangwa at an event, Smith said,
“I don’t know, when I look at him, if he is a long-term captaincy option for India. By this year-end, he’d have been away from home for a while, the pressure he’ll face, the scrutiny from the press. But if you’re away from home and you’re struggling for form as a team, I don’t know if I’d want to burden Virat Kohli with that or if India have a better leader in that environment.”
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Smith feels that the Indian side should have someone in the support staff to challenge his decisions positively and help him evolve as a great leader. Someone who could make him understand things subtly. He said,
“He has all the capabilities tactically, he knows his own game, he sets the standard in the field for everyone else. I think if he had a really constructive person in his environment, who could talk to him, make him think, maybe even challenge him with some different ideas, in a constructive way, not an angry or aggressive way, but make him think, open his eyes to other possibilities, that would make him a really good leader.”
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Kohli, who has a record of going with a different playing XI in every Test he captained so far, is expected to have Rahane in the team for the Jo’burg Test starting January 24. On the other hand, wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik has joined the team. If he finds a spot in the last game, it will be for the first time ever in the Indian Test cricket history that three different wicketkeepers will play in a series of 3-matches.
