Sanjay Bangar, the former coach of India, boldly asserted that Virat Kohli ought to have remained the red-ball captain for an extended duration. Upon concluding his term as Test captain, Kohli stands as one of the most accomplished captains in red-ball history. Graeme Smith (53), Ricky Ponting (48), and Steve Waugh (41) are the three most successful Test captains, and he captained the Asian Giants to 40 victories.
When tasked with the additional duty of captaincy during the 2014–15 Test cricket tour of Australia, he flourished. As the captain of the Indian batting team, he amassed 5,864 runs at an average of 54.80.
The great MS Dhoni (27 victories) was eclipsed by Kohli in 2019 to become India’s most successful Test skipper.
After the 2022 Test series against South Africa, he announced his resignation as India’s Test captain. Many people were shocked by this move, including Bangar, who felt he ought to have kept leading the team.
“I personally feel that he should have continued for longer as a Test captain because he probably captained India in 65 Test matches, and one of the things I feel is that he could have probably continued as a Test captain for a longer period, Bangar said on the Rao podcast.
Former batting coach Bangar, who worked with Kohli when he was captain, claimed that because the team was already a formidable one at home, Kohli was concentrated on leading them to success abroad.
“Virat was driven with the fact that India had to improve their performances overseas. Because in India we knew that whether anybody is there or not, with all due respect to the opposition, if you come to India, India is winning 75 per cent of the time. You’ll really have to play poorly to lose in India,” he added.
As he led by example with his discipline, Kohli’s captaincy brought about a revolution in Indian cricket’s fitness and other players began to emulate him.
Bangar stated that Kohli pushed the boundaries of his physical capabilities to extract the maximum performance from him.
“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 concluded.
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