Unfair to have too many expectations from Virat Kohli as Test captain: Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar

With Virat Kohli leading India in the first Test against Australia at Adelaide, a lot of the focus has understandably been on the 26-year-old’s captaincy, with him widely considered to be the successor to regular skipper MS Dhoni once he retires. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, however, has warned against having undue expectations from the batting star.

Gavaskar acknowledged that Kohli is the next in line for the captaincy but feels he should not be rushed into the job. "I think it's pretty much understood as far as Indian cricket is concerned that Virat is the next in line. I just fail to understand this hurry to anoint him as skipper," said Gavaskar. "This (captaining in the Adelaide Test) is just a one-off situation and a one-off situation is a lot better because there would be less pressure on him.”

Although Kohli has skippered India in ODI cricket in 15 matches or so, Test cricket captaincy is an altogether different task, and Gavaskar feels the 1st Test at Adelaide will enable Kohli to get a feel of what is required in the longer format.

"We should not have huge expectations from him. The first Test would just let him feel what Test captaincy is about. Even in Tests, captains grow with every match. They learn from experience and their mistakes," Gavaskar added. "This would be a great learning curve from him and we should just ease off."

Talking about whether the recent Phillip Hughes tragedy will have an adverse impact on the Australians, he opined: "These are all professional cricketers, so all are trained to forget about the previous ball and focus on the next ball," he said. "Perhaps the verbal aggressiveness might not be there and I think that will only be for the better of the game. But I think as the Test match progresses, certainly you will find that the match will be just like the past."

India have had a horrid run in Test cricket away from home in recent times, but Gavaskar said that India should leave their failures behind them and also urged the batsmen to take charge on a good batting deck in Adelaide.

"Adelaide is one of the best batting tracks in the world. Our batsmen just have to get used to the bounce before they unfurl their shots," he said. "Our batsmen must support the bowlers," he concluded.