Mohammed Siraj, Shreyas Iyer, Virat Kohli and Shardul Thakur listen on as captain and coach share strategies prior to ODI series. Picture Credit: Twitter/@BCCI
Virat Kohli is no longer the Indian captain. While is easier to convey in a sentence, the reality of it hasn't sunk it. Over the years Kohli as the leader of the Indian cricket team had been a pleasant habit. There was no doubt in the hearts and minds of cricket lovers in India that one of the world's best batters Kohli is the captain of the national cricket team.
However, now that he is not leading the side in any franchise a few habits will perhaps take some time before they leave the subconscious of the fan's mind.
While former India cricketer Aakash Chopra called Virat Kohli the skipper by mistake during the broadcast of the second ODI of the ongoing series against South Africa, this time around it was the Indian Premier League franchise Mumbai Indians who put the "(C)" against Kohli's name instead of KL Rahul who is leading the team in the ODI series against the Proteas. They made this mistake in a tweet they posted for their fans after the toss.
Check it out here:
Nevertheless, it has been a disappointing tour of South Africa for the Men in Blue. While they had their eyes on a historic maiden Test series win in the rainbow country, they lost that 2-1 and have already faced a defeat in each of their first two games of the ODI series, rendering the ongoing fixture in Cape Town as a dead rubber.
As far as Kohli is concerned, he made a half-century in the first ODI but departed for a duck in the second game. The wait for his 71st international hundred continues as he last reached the three figures mark in November 2019. In a recent interview, former Pakistan speedster Shoiab Akhtar said that he feels Kohli will end his career with 120 international hundreds implying he will break Sachin Tendulkar's international hundred record easily.
However, he has backed the Pakistan team to register a win over India again in the T20 World Cup 2022.