Virat Kohli’s decision to step down as Test captain was unexpected and emotional: Shardul Thakur

After Virat Kohli resigned as Test captain, Indian all-rounder Shardul Thakur said it was an emotional time for the Indian team.

Kohli announced on his official Twitter account a few weeks ago that he would step down as India’s Test captain just a day after his team lost the Test series 1-2 to South Africa. Kohli took over as Test captain from MS Dhoni, who retired from the red-ball format at the end of 2014. Kohli captained, the best record for any Indian captain.

Kohli retired as India’s most successful Test captain. India won 68 Test matches, winning 40 of them, and never lost a series at home. Kohli’s decision to resign as Test captain raised a few eyebrows, as he stated in September last year that he intended to continue as ODI and Test captain after stepping down as T20I captain.

India won their first-ever Test series in Australia under Kohli’s leadership, defeating them 2-1 in the 2018/19 Border Gavaskar series. Shardul Thakur debuted in 2018 under Virat Kohli’s leadership and returned to the side in 2021. Despite this, he played a crucial role in India’s historic Test victory at the Gabba last year, and he dominated with both bat and ball during the tour of England last year.

Under Kohli’s captaincy, the team’s approach to playing overseas Test matches changed as they developed a winning and fighting attitude.

Shardul blew away South Africa’s batting order in the first innings of the Johannesburg Test, taking seven wickets for 61 runs and breaking the hosts’ set partnerships.

South Africa won both games despite having to chase 200-plus targets in the fourth innings. Thakur stated that his team was unlucky in those two games.

Shardul Thakur took 12 wickets in three Tests and cameoed with the bat in the ODI series before being benched for the final ODI.

Both Kohli and Shardul will be in action when India begins a three-match ODI and T20I series against the West Indies on February 6. Kohli will player under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, who was named full-time limited-overs captain after Kohli was fired as ODI captain in December of last year.