Kohli aims to survive

eam India skipper Virat Kohli’s decision to relinquish the T20i captaincy is about self-preservation. He may be making it sound as if he is giving up something, but it is not as he will continue to lead his home team Royal Challenges Bangalore in the IPL and he will be captain in the T20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman where Team India must fancy itself in the conditions. As ODI captain he may wish to lead in the World Cup to be held in India in 2023 where too India’s chances may be better than were the event to be held elsewhere.

What can be said in favour of cricketers and athletes seeking relief from the pressures of modern sport is that there are genuine reasons for them to seek lightening of the load, for which a greater need may have been felt in the time of the pandemic with its quarantine regulations and life in a bio-bubble. Players like Kohli who are so intense about their sport are certain to feel the stress even more. His decreasing batting productivity is clear as since his last century in international cricket in November 2019 he is averaging a paltry 26.8 in Tests and a modest 46.7 in ODIs. By shedding a part of the burden, he can hope to prolong his career.

It must have stung Team India that not one ICC trophy has been won in the last eight years since Dhoni’s team won the Champions Trophy in England. Losing the World Test Championship final to New Zealand in England when at least a share of the trophy was within India’s grasp may have added to a feeling of inadequacy even amid the riches of two Tests wins apiece in Australia and England, besides trouncing England at home, all of it between December 2020 and now. The sum of India’s recent cricketing achievements has been on the positive side and a lot of it could be ascribed to Kohli’s leadership even if it must be said that in Rohit Sharma there is a deputy ready to step in, all formats included.