Virat Kohli should embrace being relieved from ODI captaincy, it’s a blessing in disguise, says Brad Hogg

The BCCI on December 8 announced an 18-member Test squad for the South Africa tour, and as a matter of surprise, the governing body also mentioned that Rohit Sharma will take over the ODI captaincy from Virat Kohli. Rohit was already appointed as the full-time T20I captain, after Kohli quit the leadership role with the conclusion of the T20 World Cup 2021. The Indian opener has also been named as the deputy of Virat Kohli in Test cricket, and will begin his vice-captaincy stint during the South Africa tour.

After stepping down as India T20I captain, Kohli had expressed his desire to continue leading Team India in ODI and Test cricket. However, the shocking announcement from the BCCI witnessed mixed reactions from fans and experts from the cricketing the world. Later, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly revealed that the selectors decided against having different captains for two white-ball formats.

Meanwhile, former Australia spinner Brad Hogg has stated that Kohli should embrace the change, which will help him to concentrate on his batting performance and Test captaincy. He further added that different captains for red-ball and white-ball cricket will take the pressure off Rohit and Kohli.

“I think this is a good move. Kohli should just embrace it and relax about the whole situation and should concentrate on captaining the Test team. So basically, you’ve got Rohit Sharma just concentrating on the team he wants in white-ball cricket and Virat Kohli focusing on Test cricket. It takes a lot of pressure off you,” Hogg said while speaking on his YouTube channel.

“Whereas Rohit Sharma has only got to worry about the white-ball environment plus all the sponsorship and other commitments off the field. I think this is going to be better for Virat Kohli. It is going to improve his performances which have slightly dropped off slightly in the last couple of years when he’s been under pressure while captaining all three teams,” he stated.

Hogg reckoned that it is a blessing in disguise for Kohli, and expressed his concern about the dressing room tensions during the South Africa tour after recent captaincy change. 

“I think it’s a blessing in disguise. I just hope when they go on their next tour, that change room is not separated by this little slight division between these two particular players,” he added.

The India tour of South Africa will begin with first of three Tests in Centurion from December 26.