Ever since India lost the World Test Championship final to New Zealand, skipper Virat Kohli has been receiving a lot of criticism, with many demanding him be stripped of the captaincy duties and replaced by someone like Ajinkya Rahane in Test cricket and Rohit Sharma in the limited-overs format.
While the anger of the fans can be understood because they saw their team bow out of the knockout stage of yet another ICC tournament, blaming Kohli or any other player, for that matter, for Team India’s disappointing performance shouldn’t be encouraged as it’s a team game and only combined performance can help you to glory.
With Kohli receiving heavy criticism, Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal has come out in defence of the Indian skipper saying he is a “fantastic captain” and he can’t be blamed solely for the team’s failure.
“Virat Kohli is a big player and a fantastic captain. He is aggressive and very emotional. Any captain who has come in has only taken Indian cricket forward. It started with Sourav Ganguly, then Rahul Dravid and MS Dhoni took over,” Akmal said on a YouTube channel.
Yes, everyone has complained that Virat Kohli hasn’t won any ICC trophy. But, apart from that, he has won almost everything. India have won so many series under Virat Kohli. He has been a bit unlucky, but I have no doubt over his captaincy credentials. He is a great captain and match-winner,” Akmal said.
There is no doubt over Kohli’s credentials as a batsman but it is often forgotten that he is India’s most successful Test skipper ever and has guided the team to several remarkable bi-lateral series victories both home and abroad.
