Ricky Ponting: 'Virat Kohli's decision to leave India Test captaincy was shocking; Rohit should be successor

Add as a preferred source on Google

Dubai, January 31: Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting said he is really surprised and shocked with Virat Kohli deciding to leave Test captaincy of India.

Earlier this month, Kohli stood down as India's Test skipper a day after the country suffered a 1-2 series defeat against South Africa in the three-match away series.

Last year, the 33-year-old had also stepped down as T20I captain and then he was removed as the ODI leader after the selectors wanted one leader for white-ball formats.

"Yes, it did actually (surprise me). Probably the main reason why is I had a chat and good catch-up with Virat during the first part of the IPL (2021) before it got postponed.

“He was talking then about stepping away (from captaincy) from white-ball cricket and how passionate he was to continue on to be Test match captain.

“He just loved and cherished that job and that post so much. Obviously, the Indian Test team had achieved a lot under his leadership. When I heard it, I was really, really surprised," the official website of ICC quoted Ponting as saying.

"You only have to watch him on the field for an hour of the day's play to realize how passionate he is about that job and the role, and how much he wants the team to win and how much he wants the best for Indian cricket.

“I was shocked, but then I started thinking about other things, even my own time as captain. I have gone on record and said that I probably think I played a couple of years longer than I should have in hindsight.

“I think I might have been captain for a couple of years longer than I should have," he added.

No other Indian skipper has captained India in more Tests (68) or won more matches (40) than Virat Kohli. India lost just five of the 24 series under his captaincy.

Away from home, Kohli's India won 16 out of 36 matches, with an impressive win percentage of 44.44, the highest for an Indian or Asian captain who has led their team in at least 10 matches.

"So I think there is potentially a shelf-life for international cricket captains and even coaches. Virat's been there for close to seven years now.

“If there's a country in the world that's the most difficult to captain, it's probably India because of just how popular the game is and how much every single Indian loves to see the fortunes of the Indian cricket team, whether they are good or bad. You weigh all those things up," said Ponting.

"It was more of a staggering achievement for India than it was for us," said Ponting.

"When I took over, I took over a side that had dominated world cricket for a long time. If you think about India before Virat, it was about winning a lot of games at home and not winning quite as many overseas.

“The thing that improved the most was India winning a few more games overseas, and that's something that he and all of the Indian cricket have to be really proud of," he added.

Further talking about Kohli, Ponting said: "The other thing is there was really was a real focus placed on Test cricket by the BCCI when Virat took over, and I think a lot of it has come from him as well - to focus more on Test cricket and winning more games home and away.

"Given his Test record as captain, he can walk away from the role very, very proud of what he has achieved," he added.

Ponting backs Rohit

Ricky Ponting has also shown support for Rohit Sharma leading India in Tests looking at his impeccable record as a leader.

“I was at Mumbai Indians when Rohit Sharma took over the captaincy there. I was bought in the auction to be their captain and unfortunately, I wasn't playing well enough after the first few games to keep myself in the team, so I had to make room for another international player to come into the side," said Ponting.

"The owners and the team management wanted to know who I thought would be the appropriate person to take over the leadership at the Mumbai Indians.

“There were a few names thrown around between owners and the other coaches but it was really clear to me that there was only one guy that can lead the team - he was a young guy and his name happened to be Rohit Sharma," he added.

“I think the proof is in the pudding with what he has done at the Mumbai Indians since that moment on. He has been a very successful leader there and has been when he has led India on a few occasions as well.

“If I go back to what I said at the start about being on top of your game when you take over a captaincy role, then it is pretty hard to argue after what he has done with his Test cricket in the last 2-3 years.

“He has played as well as anybody in the world through that period of time, and we know how good he is as a white-ball player," said Ponting.

"They (BCCI) will have a decision to make what they want to do with their roles as well, whether they split roles or they want to keep the same captain for all formats," he added.

Further talking about Ajinkya Rahane and KL Rahul as leaders, Ponting said: "To be honest, I have worked with Ajinkya - he is just a great bloke, a very, very good player. He hasn't had his best period with the bat in Tests, but we saw what he can do leadership-wise in the series against Australia last summer.

"I don't know KL Rahul well - his name's been thrown around a little bit. All reports I hear about him is he is a terrific guy, and he's playing very well and starting to put together a really good Test record, particularly overseas which is impressive. There will be a few names that will be thrown around," he added.