Ex-cricketer makes shocking claims on Kohli's call to step down as India Test skipper

Cricketer-turned-expert Sanjay Manjrekar has made a shocking statement on Virat Kohli's decision to step down as Team India's Test captain on Saturday. The move came just a day after India's Test series loss against South Africa. Despite drawing first blood, Kohli & Co. ended up conceding the series from a position of strength.

Sanjay Manjrekar reckons Virat Kohli decided to relinquish Test captaincy as he felt that BCCI might sack him as Test captain.

“It’s come one after the other in a very short span of time - giving up the white-ball captaincy and IPL captaincy as well. This also was unexpected, but it is interesting that all these three resignations of important positions have come so quickly one after the other. I think, in some way, he wants to make himself unsackable as captain. When he gets that vibe that his captaincy is under threat, he tends to quit", said Sanjay Manjrekar while speaking to ESPN Cricinfo.

At the same time, the former Mumbai batter also reckons that the change in coaching staff must have put Virat Kohli out of his comfort zone which might have forced him to relinquish Test captaincy.

“The landscape is changing, the scenario around Virat Kohli that allowed him to be himself and flourish. Ravi Shastri coming in. He was uncomfortable when Anil Kumble was the coach and once Shastri and the support staff came in, he felt comfortable. The new coach (Rahul Dravid) is no Ravi Shastri. He would have got some inkling of the kind of support he was going to get", he said.

It remains to be seen who will be appointed as Virat Kohli's successor in red-ball cricket. As per reports, KL Rahul is the frontrunner for this role.