All is not good within the Indian camp as Indian Test captain Virat Kohli addressed the situation regarding his recent sacking from the post of ODI captaincy. 33-year-old Kohli was sacked from his post earlier this month and one person who thinks this could be Kohli’s last chance to prove himself is former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria.
“For Virat Kohli, it’s a very big tour because India’s never won a [Test] series in South Africa. They’ve won in England and Australia but this time in South Africa, it will be Virat Kohli’s last chance as captain (to win a series in SA). He has got to score runs with the bat, he has got to make his team win, and he has to prove himself on the tour especially after the way the BCCI kicked him out (of the ODI captaincy),” the 41-year-old said.
Kohli has a proven track record with the team but has faced criticism for failures at major International Cricket Council (ICC) events. The former skipper of limited-overs side guided India to the finals of Champions Trophy in 2017 and World Test Championship (WTC) in 2021 but ended up as runners-up on both occasions. Kohli’s inability to guide India to glory in the 2019 ODI World Cup was also mentioned as one of the reasons why he was sacked.
Kaneria, a former spinner was successful in taking 261 wickets for Pakistan in Test cricket. Kohli, on the other hand, will have a point to prove in South Africa series. The former World Cup winner is scheduled to lead India into the Boxing Day (December 26) against South Africa at Centurion.
Since the outbreak of Covid-19 things have changed for Kohli as he also quit his captaincy at Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and will only serve as a player for the franchise in the upcoming season of Indian Premier League (IPL). The Delhi-born batter who has 70 international hundreds has gone more than two years without a century. It will be interesting to see if he breaks the jinx on South Africa soil where he scored four centuries (ODI and Test) on the last tour.
