Former Indian cricketer says that Virat Kohli is overhyped captain

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar believes Virat Kohli can’t be counted among the greatest Indian captains of all time. Kohli, who recently stepped down as the Test captain of the Indian team, signed off as the most successful Indian skipper in the longest format. Kohli won 40 out of 68 Test matches as captain – most by any Indian captain in the history of the game.

Kohli could have gone on to become one of the greatest captains of all time in Test history had he continued for a few more years. His decision to step down from Test captaincy came as a shock to many but Kohli has already left behind a legacy that will be hard to match for any Indian Test captain in the future.

While Kohli was exceptional as a captain in Tests, his limited-overs record as captain is far from impressive. Kohli failed to inspire India to any major ICC trophy in limited-overs cricket during his four-year stint from 2017 to 2021. While Manjrekar lauded Kohli for his never-say-die attitude, he explained why the 33-year-old can’t be counted among the best Indian captains of all time.

“When you look at Kohli, there are a lot of things to like about him because he is somebody who led by example. The Wanderers Test match before this series, when they played on a treacherous pitch. India lost the series 2-0 but Kohli set an example as captain,” Manjrekar told News18.

“He said that we want to win this despite a pitch that could have killed somebody. That kept India’s morale high. That is what you get with Virat Kohli, the never-say-die attitude. In the World Test Championship final India lost. But till the last minute India through Virat Kohli was still fighting to salvage the game. But finally, you’ve got to talk about the results. The results were not coming,” he added.

Manjrekar believes the likes of MS Dhoni, Kapil Dev and Sourav Ganguly were all better captains than Kohli and had led the team in difficult phases. He also explained how in present times, the hype is more due to the presence of social media.

“So when we talk about all-time greats, it would be very unfair to not count Dhoni in that. Kapil Dev at a time when there was an inferiority complex at the world level. Saurav Ganguly after the match-fixing era gave India some overseas wins. Sunil Gavaskar also. So these are all great leaders,” Manjrekar explained.