'People Who Do Not Understand': Salman Butt Backs Virat Kohli, Know What He Said

Kohli has represented the Indian cricket team in 106 Tests, 271 ODIs, 115 T20Is and scored more than 25000 international runs.

Virat Kohli during India's practice session.

Source : Getty

Former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt came in support of India’s star batter Virat Kohli after he was considered a failed captain. Kohli has represented the Indian cricket team in 106 Tests, 271 ODIs, 115 T20Is and scored more than 25000 international runs.

“People who do not understand the game of cricket very well judge a captain’s performance based on how he has fared in the Champions Trophy or the World Cup. However, if you have a good win percentage and are tactically very strong, but haven’t won a big tournament, it wouldn’t be fair to say that you haven’t been a good captain,” Butt said on his YouTube channel.

“There might have been a few mistakes in high-pressure games, or it might just have been a case of luck. Not winning an ICC tournament doesn’t tell us that he wasn’t a strong leader,” added Butt.

Earlier, on the RCB podcast, former India captain Virat Kohli had said, “Look, you play to win tournaments. I captained in Champions Trophy 2017 (reached the final), 2019 World Cup (reached the semifinal), I captained in World Test Championship (reached the final), and T20 World Cup in 2021 (failed to qualify for the knockouts). After three (four) ICC tournaments, I was considered as a failed captain.”

“There is still some scope for improvement in Babar Azam’s captaincy. When you look at how Virat Kohli led his side in Tests, it was fantastic. He won a lot of matches and even overseas series. However, he couldn’t win a final. When such a thing happens, it seems at times that the team hasn’t been able to win a final because of him,” Butt signed off.

It will be a special achievement for India’s ace batter Virat Kohli as he is taking part in his 200th international match at home as India play Australia in the third Test at Indore. India is already 2-0 up in the four-match series after outplaying the Kangaroos in the first two Test matches.