Virat Kohli, the biggest superstar in the current Indian cricket setup, decided to call time on his Test career on Monday as he announced his retirement from the longest format of the game. The 36-year-old’s decision comes days after Rohit Sharma’s announcement of stepping away from Tests. The duo had a disastrous tour of Australia, where India lost 1-3. Runs were hard to come by for both, and ever since the tour came to an end, there was chatter of the management wanting to look past the duo and go in with fresh faces for the five-match series against England.
India head coach Gautam Gambhir wanted fresh faces for the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle beginning with the upcoming five-match series against England. As a result, the fate of Rohit and Virat was sealed after the disastrous tour of Australia.
Under Gautam Gambhir, India lost back-to-back series against New Zealand (home) and Australia (away), resulting in India not making the WTC final for the very first time.
With Rohit, Virat and Ravichandran Ashwin gone, there aren’t many superstars left inside the Indian dressing room, and Gambhir might just gain full control. He might very well become the first India head coach who could have more power than the skipper. The same PTI report states that Gambhir’s biggest objective is to remove the star culture within the team.
Gambhir also got the support of Ajit Agarkar, the chairman of selectors, as the duo saw fit to have fresh faces for the England tour and the next WTC cycle.
“The Gautam Gambhir era begins now. He was categorical that during the next WTC cycle, India need to have fresh faces,” PTI quoted a BCCI source as saying.
“Everyone associated with decision-making knew where Gambhir stood in terms of carrying seniors in the longest format. Obviously, his and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar’s thoughts aligned,” the source added.
