Former Australia cricketer Brad Hogg opened on the removal of Virat Kohli as India’s ODI skipper, saying that the recent development may turn out to be a blessing in disguise for India’s Test captain and the Indian team.
The Indian cricket board took the entire world by surprise when they named Rohit Sharma as the captain of the “ODI and T20I teams going forward”, after naming the Test and one-day squads for the upcoming tour of South Africa. They did not specify whether Kohli stepped down from the post or was asked to vacate it for Rohit.
“I think this is a good move. Kohli should just embrace it and relax about the whole situation and should concentrate on captaining the Test team. So basically, you’ve got Rohit Sharma just concentrating on the team he wants in white-ball cricket and Virat Kohli focusing on Test cricket. It takes a lot of pressure off you,” Hogg said while speaking on his YouTube channel.
“Whereas Rohit Sharma has only got to worry about the white-ball environment plus all the sponsorship and other commitments off the field. I think this is going to be better for Virat Kohli. It is going to improve his performances which have slightly dropped off slightly in the last couple of years when he’s been under pressure while captaining all three teams,” he stated.
Hogg also kept his fingers crossed regarding any dressing room tension after the recent development surrounding Kohli and Sharma.
“I think it’s a blessing in disguise. I just hope when they go on their next tour, that change room is not separated by this little slight division between these two particular players,” he added.
