Former Australia batsman Tom Moody said captaining India in all 3 formats is a different pressure altogether. He said that India can consider split captaincy if they are concerned about Virat Kohli’s longevity in international cricket.
Tom Moody said if India are worried they will lose 2-3 years of ‘superstar’ Kohli’s career, then they can hand over the reins to someone else in any of the 3 formats.
Virat Kohli took the Test reigns from MS Dhoni as early as 2014 and was appointed the ODI and T20I captain in 2017 after the latter stepped down from the role. Kohli has had to deal with a lot of pressure, with billions following Indian cricket over the years.
“On the [split] captaincy, it really depends. Like for England, Eoin Morgan is not a Test player, he has been, but he is not recognised as a Test player, he is a specialist white-ball cricketer. So it works for them pretty easily, it’s a natural transition,” Tom Moody told sports presenter Harsha Bhogle during a chat for Cricbuzz.
“With India’s example, which is probably the most high profile example, the only reason I would consider split captaincy there is purely to preserve the longevity of Virat Kohli.
“Virat Kohli is a superstar, we all know that. And he is an absolute delight to watch, to compete, as a captain and as a batsman.
“But if you took the white-ball captaincy away from him, for instance, the question and discussion should be can we have this special talent for longer? Because the role of the captain in three formats in any country is a significant role, but in India, it’s another league.
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly had dismissed the idea of split captaincy for India last year but there are calls from the cricket fraternity to help share Kohli’s workload.
