'I was personally surprised that Virat had given up captaincy,' former India bowling coach Bharat Arun opens up on the captaincy issue

Former Indian skipper Virat Kohli’s resignation as Test team skipper came just a day after team India’s 2-1 Test series defeat against South Africa. Last year, Kohli had decided to relinquish his T20I captaincy as well and subsequently he was removed as the ODI captain of the Indian team also. 

In recent times, the famous captaincy tussle between Kohli and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) became a big point of debate. 

While talking on this matter, former India bowling coach Bharat Arun said that he was “personally surprised” after getting the news of Kohli’s resignation. 

Arun's words

“I was personally surprised that Virat had given up captaincy because every time we had dialogues he was so passionate about leading the country. He wanted India to be a dominating force in the world and I thought he had set a wonderful foundation,” Arun was quoted while talking to News9.

“I personally feel that Virat had at least a couple of years to captain the country,” he added. 

The captaincy debate has jolted Indian cricket in recent times and the impact of it has been felt on the field as well. KL Rahul led the Indian team in the ODI series against South Africa but there was no change in results as the visitors had to suffer a humiliating 3-0 defeat in the ODIs. Since then, lot of discussions had taken place regarding the decision of choosing the new captain.

The new captain

While talking on the topic, Arun gave the example of former Indian skipper MS Dhoni and pointed out his cool nature. According to Arun, being cool is “the best state to take decisions.”

“I watched MS Dhoni, the coolest mind you could ever have. Nothing fazes him. If you have a mind that is cool, calm, calculative … that is the best state to take decisions on the go, because the decisions have to be very dynamic. You are making decisions on the go. Next to the Prime Minister, the Indian captain is the most enviable job in the country, so I think somebody who can take the pressure [is the right fit],” the 59-year-old former Indian bowling coach explained.