Former India player and batting coach Sanjay Bangar said that Virat Kohli should not have stepped down as India’s Test captain soon. He also opined that Kohli needed to be at the helm of the Test side for a longer period. However, Kohli was named as India’s Test captain during their Australia tour in 2014 after MS Dhoni retired from the Test following the third Test of the series. He also achieved a lot of success in the role,
becoming the most successful Indian captain in the format.

Team India clinched 40 wins out of 68 matches under Kohli’s captaincy. Bangar, who had worked closely with him, recently opened up about the player’s decision to relinquish captaincy.

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Speaking on The Rao Podcast, Bangar said: “I personally feel that he should have continued for longer as a Test captain because he probably captained India in 65 Test matches, and one of the things I feel is that he could have probably continued as a Test captain for a longer period.”

However, he stepped down as India’s Test captain in January 2022. His announcement came just a day after they lost 2-1 to South Africa in
an away series. Sanjay Bangar also stated that Virat Kohli aimed to improve India’s record in overseas Tests.

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“Virat was driven with the fact that India had to improve their performances overseas. Because in India we knew that whether anybody is there or not, with all due respect to the opposition, if you come to India, India is winning 75 per cent of the time. You’ll really have to play poorly to lose in India. He himself achieved enormous levels of fitness and challenged his physical limits to the hilt. He worked the hardest. I think he scored the maximum runs during that period as a captain and he had that drive,” Sanjay Bangar concluded.