Ahead of the ODI series against South Africa, star India pacer Jasprit Bumrah interacted with the media. It goes without saying that he was frequently enquired about his thoughts on Virat Kohli stepping down as Test captain.
Virat Kohli announced his decision via a social media post on Saturday. India had earlier lost the Test series 2-1 to South Africa. Kohli’s announcement came as a jolt from the blue and took everyone by surprise. Since then, there have been plenty of speculation surrounding the reasons behind his departure from leadership.
Jasprit Bumrah was asked about how he found out the decision and the pacer replied that Kohli himself had communicated it to the squad in a team meeting earlier. “Obviously, we are close as a unit so he told us in a meeting that he’s stepping down from the Test captaincy. He told us as a team and we respect his decision, value his leadership a lot so we congratulated him as a team for his contribution to our team as a leader. And we wished him all the best,” said Bumrah.
The star bowler made his Test debut under Kohli’s captaincy in 2018 and ended up becoming the cornerstone of the pace battery that formed the basis of India’s extraordinary successes in this format. Bumrah mentioned that it was his ‘immense pleasure’ to play under the leadership of Kohli. He also added that the 33-year-old will always hold a leadership figure in the Indian team.
“He knows how his body is reacting and what frame of mind he’s in. So, yeah, we respect that and it’s been an immense pleasure to play under his leadership. I have made by Test debut [under his captaincy] and as I have spoken before, he brings a lot of energy to the side, he’ll always be a leader in the group and his contribution has been immense, and will always be immense going forward.”
Kohli was appointed the leader of the Test side in 2014 when India was ranked seventh in world cricket. Since then, he galvanised the side in this format and ensured that the team finished at the top of charts over the last few years while registering historic wins in South Africa, Australia and England.
India will now turn their attention towards the ODI series against South Africa. This will be Virat Kohli’s first assignment as a player since stepping down from captaincy in all three formats.
