"Bring back Ajinkya Rahane" - Twitterati slams Virat Kohli's captaincy

Virat Kohli has now lost his fourth Test on the trot as captain, following a huge 227-run drubbing at the hands of England in Chennai. The 32-year-old battled hard in the second innings with a valiant 72, but ran out of partners as Team India failed to save the first Test.

Virat Kohli made many questionable decisions in the Chennai Test, such as leaving out wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav and playing three finger-spinners on a track that offered little turn for the first two days. His field placements and bowling changes also raised a few eyebrows.

Fans on Twitter demand Ajinkya Rahane to replace Virat Kohli as Test captain

Team India scripted a memorable 2-1 series win in Australia against all odds. To lose a Test at home right after such an emphatic series win Down Under was disappointing for many fans.

The defeat has yet again sparked the ongoing debate about whether Ajinkya Rahane should be handed over the Test captaincy. Rahane led the side brilliantly in the absence of Virat Kohli, who was on paternity leave, in Australia.

Fans took to Twitter to voice their opinion on Virat Kohli's poor record as captain of late. Here is what they had to say:

Virat Kohli such a Impactful player. Without him It took India 3 tests in Australia to go on top and create history but he joined and put us back to be a losing side in just one test. Incredible impact.

— EngiNerd. (@mainbhiengineer) February 9, 2021

Ajinkya Rahane beat Australia in Australia with net bowlers and T20 batsmen. Virat Kohli can't beat England in India with his top bowlers and batsmen. This is getting ridiculous. Kohli's Bangalore has finished last in IPL every time. Isn't that proof he's not captaincy material.

— Rakesh Thiyya (@ByRakeshSimha) February 7, 2021

#INDvsENG @ImRo45 @ajinkyarahane88 @imVkohli pic.twitter.com/BcvCtSLRKj

— Rahul Jâykãr (@RahulJykr1) February 9, 2021

Virat Kohli is trying to score as many runs as possible so that he can blame other players and the pitch. He will say taht he is the best captain. Lol. @bcci smell the coffee and make Ajinkya Rahane the captain. Sack Kohli and Shastri. Personal milestones my foot.#INDvENG

— Nairobi (@Nairobi_tweets) February 9, 2021

@imVkohli tum dream 11 pe team banao let @ajinkyarahane88 lead the team 🙏🙏🙏

— TweeterKMKB (@tweeterkmkb) February 9, 2021

Gone With The Wind..... Team India at Chepauk. Return of @imVkohli again means defeat. Bring back @ajinkyarahane88 as captain#INDvsENG_2021 #Chepauk

— Kannan (@kannandelhi) February 9, 2021

@imVkohli : Another embarrassing defeat under your captaincy, first NZ, then Australia and now in India, if u have even an iota of self respect, renounce captaincy.@BCCI : We need Virat the bat not Virat the captain.#INDvsENG_2021 #Disappointment

— Mohit (@Mohit1717) February 9, 2021

I just want the English team to clean sweep the series..dont want to see choker kohli as captain again..this test was very important with respect to the test championship finals but India under choker @imVkohli has a history of not doing well in such situations #INDvENG

— Vinayak Bharadwaj (@bharadw5) February 9, 2021

#ViratKohli#INDvsENG @BCCI@GautamGambhirWho says Kohli is capable captain for tests, should see this image... Reality... Better to wake up... pic.twitter.com/jF1agxMY1I

— Sachin Harolikar (@SHarolikar) February 9, 2021

Virat Kohli is the most unluckiest captain in the history of cricket

— Kiran (@lame_brain_) February 9, 2021

Virat Kohli has now lost his last four Tests as captain - the most he has lost in succession (Wellington, Christchurch, Adelaide & Chennai).In the seven Tests prior to the current streak, he had won seven in a row, the longest such sequence for an Indian captain.#INDvENG

— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) February 9, 2021

Bring back Rahane as captain.Else this will be a washout series.#INDvsENG #Rahane #ViratKohli

— Rohit D (@rohitd1999) February 9, 2021

As things stand, Team India have slipped down to fourth place in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) points table. England, on the other hand, have reached the summit after their sixth away win on the bounce.

While there will be celebrations in the England camp, Virat Kohli and the Indian team management will have their task cut out, with the second Test starting on Saturday.

The hosts now have to win two out of the remaining three Tests in the series and avoid defeat to qualify for the WTC final.