Every captain has an era and his era has ended: Virat Kohli's childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma

Virat Kohli's childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma has said that every captain has an era and Kohli's era has ended. Kohli decided to step down from the Test captaincy after India lost the three-match Test series against South Africa. He had stepped down from the T20I last year ahead of the T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates and Oman. The right-hander was removed from the ODI captaincy ahead of the tour of rainbow nation.

The 33-year-old became the full-time Test captain in January 2015 after MS Dhoni decided to retire from the longest format. Under Kohli's captaincy, India won 40 Tests, lost 17 and drawn 11 out of 68 games. The team also regained the number one Test ranking in 2016 and is currently at number three spot, losing to Australia, who won the recently concluded Ashes by 4-0 at home.

Meanwhile, Sharma has said that the aura created by Virat Kohli was huge and he served the Indian cricket well. He also hoped that with new captain and coach, the team will move forward with a new strategy.

“Every captain has an era and the Kohli era has ended. The aura created by Virat Kohli was huge. He worked very hard and served the Indian cricket team with great dedication and commitment. The new captain will come in with new ideas. Fortunately, we have a new skipper and coach. Hopefully, they can be on the same page so India can come forward with a new strategy,” he said on Khelneeti Podcast on YouTube.

I think Virat Kohli should have continued as Test captain: Nikhil Chopra

Former India player Nikhil Chopra opines that Virat Kohli should have continued the Test captaincy as the team is in a World Test Championship cycle.

“I think Virat Kohli should have continued as Test captain. We are in a WTC cycle and Kohli had a chance to win an ICC trophy. Really don’t know the reason behind him quitting. Before 2011, there were talks that Sachin was looking to win a World Cup (and he did). Virat could have won 50 Tests as captain, but more importantly he could have won the Test championship.”