Former Indian World cup winning captain Kapil Dev feels that Virat Kohli must be given enough time to captain the national side before judging his captaincy skills. He emphasised that it will be unfair to judge him as a captain based on one series. Kohli, who has been in scintillating form in each and every format of the game, scored his first Test double century against the Windies in the first Test of the ongoing series.
Kapil felt that both Kohli and KL Rahul are immensely talented but need to perform on a consistent basis to be considered on an elite plane.
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“Virat Kohli has to be given more chances to captain the team then only we will know about his capabilities. We can't judge his capabilities in just one series," Kapil was quoted by the Times of India.
"We can never judge a player by just one Indian Premier League (IPL) or just one Test series... let them play 5-10 series, then only we can judge a player and think about it," he added.
One of the greatest all-rounders of all time, Kapil said that the youngsters in the team have filled the void left by the famous middle order comprising of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman. He also praised Ravichandran Ashwin for his consistent performances and hailed him as the perfect replacement for Anil Kumble.
"The youngsters have bridged the gap with the previous generation. Players like Kohli and Ashwin have taken the extra responsibilities on their shoulders," the legendary all-rounder said.
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Virat Kohli took over India’s Test captaincy after MS Dhoni could not play in the Test series against Australia in 2014-15. Kohli captained the side in the first Test of the series in Dhoni’s absence and the Indians almost pulled off an improbable run chase. He then again went on to captain the team in the last Test after Dhoni’s retirement.
Kohli has done very well in the limited opportunities he got to captain the side but the real test will await the Men in Blue when they tour abroad especially in countries like England, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. It was under his captaincy that India won a series in Sri Lanka after 22 years and demolished South Africa 3-0 at home.
No doubt Kohli will go on to become one of the greatest batsmen ever but whether he will become one of the greatest ever captains, only time will tell.
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