New Delhi: Former Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi opined on Virat Kohli stepping down as India's Test captain post the 2-1 series loss against South Africa in the rainbow nation. Afridi believes Virat's decision is absolutely right as he is going through a phase that every player goes through.
The ex-Pakistani all-rounder believes that time has come for Virat to leave captaincy and focus on his batting. Afridi said leaving captaincy will help Virat enjoy his batting. He said that there comes a phase in every player's career when he is unable to handle the pressure.
"It's fine in my opinion. Virat has played enough cricket and led the team well. And I believe this is the correct decision. There comes a stage where you can't handle pressure, and because of it, your own performances get affected. So, I think he has captained for a long time and at a great level. As a batsman, it's time he enjoys his cricket," Afridi said on the show ‘Game Set Match’ on Samaa TV.
The very next day after team India's series loss against Proteas, Virat took to Twitter to announce his decision to leave the Test captaincy.
Virat had said before the T20 World Cup 2021 that after the marquee tournament he would quit India's T20 captaincy, but would continue to lead the national squad in ODI and Test format. BCCI had then removed Virat as India's ODI skipper, which created a lot of controversy.
After the Test series, India will take on Proteas in the three-match ODI series, set to start from January 19 in Paarl. In injured Rohit's absence, KL Rahul has been given the captaincy job.