‘Virat Kohli challenged his physical limits…’: Ex-India coach says star batter ‘should’ve continued as Test captain’

Former India coach Sanjay Bangar made a bold claim that Virat Kohli should have continued for a longer period as a red-ball captain.

Kohli finished his Test captaincy tenure as one of the most successful captains in red-ball history. He led the Asian Giants to 40 Test wins, fourth in the list of most successful Test captains after Graeme Smith (53), Ricky Ponting (48), and Steve Waugh (41).

He thrived when the added responsibility of captaincy was given to him in Test cricket on the 2014/15 tour of Australia. The Indian batting superstar racked up 5,864 runs at an average of 54.80 as a test captain.

Kohli surpassed legendary MS Dhoni (27 wins) in 2019 and became India’s most successful Test captain.

He stepped down as India’s Test captain after the 2022 Test series against South Africa, which was a shocking decision for many including Bangar who opined he should have continued to lead the side.

“I personally feel that he should have continued for longer as a Test captain because he probably captained India in 65 Test matches, and one of the things I feel is that he could have probably continued as a Test captain for a longer period, Bangar said on the Rao podcast.

Bangar, a former batting coach, worked with Kohli during his captaincy tenure and asserted that Kohli was focused on producing positive results with the team in overseas conditions as they were already a dominant unit at home.

“Virat was driven with the fact that India had to improve their performances overseas. Because in India we knew that whether anybody is there or not, with all due respect to the opposition, if you come to India, India is winning 75 per cent of the time. You’ll really have to play poorly to lose in India,” he added.

Virat Kohli achieved enormous levels of fitness: Bangar

During his captaincy tenure, Kohli brought a fitness revolution in Indian cricket as he set an example with his discipline, and other players also started following in his footsteps.

Bangar asserted that Kohli challenged his physical limits to the hilt to get the best out of him.

“He himself achieved enormous levels of fitness and challenged his physical limits to the hilt. He worked the hardest. I think he scored the maximum runs during that period as a captain and he had that drive,” he concluded.