Former Indian cricket coach Ravi Shastri said that jealousy was an important aspect in Virat Kohli stepping down from captaincy. "It is Jealousy," said Shastri on Shoaib Akhtar's YouTube channel without naming anyone.
His comments come in the backdrop of Virat Kohli stepping down as captain of the Indian cricket team.
Shoaib Akhtar, in a conversation with Shastri went on to say that he was present in the United Arab Emirates during the 2021 T20 World Cup when some Indian told him that the tournament is Kohli's last chance to prove himself. Shoaib learned that "Kohli would be removed from captaincy" if India didn't manage to win the World Cup.
When asked Shastri about the saga around Kohli's captaincy, the former coach said, "When a person does well over a span of time, as much as people love it, there are people who hate it. I say it openly. The word J comes out, it's jealous."
"People do get jealous which is a human trait. I think it is a terrible trait. You can avoid that, but the top people have that to minimal," Shastri added.
Shastri then went on to say how demanding the Indian skipper job is. "One thing you have to realise is that as a captain of India, it is like being the captain or coach of the Brazilian football team. All eyes on you."
"Pressure started building, people were looking for opportunities and no human being is perfect. I have seen greats of the game who quit captaincy to focus on their game, be it Gavaskar, Tendulkar, or MS (Dhoni)," Shastri added.
Shoaib Akhtar had made startling claims regarding Virat Kohli's Indian captaincy. The Pak pacer said that Virat Kohli "didn't leave captaincy but was forced to do so."
Last year, Virat had stepped down as team India's T20 skipper ahead of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup after which the Board of Control for Cricket in India had removed him as India's ODI captain as the senior team's selectors did not want more than one captain for white-ball format. Later, Kohli stepped down from Test captaincy as well.