Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has said that Virat Kohli’s sacking as India’s ODI captain has dented the confidence of the other players in the team as well. Butt also claimed that uncertainty seems to be there in Indian cricket now. He stated this after India’s loss in the second ODI of the series against South Africa. With this, India lost the series too.

Salman Butt has said on his YouTube channel: “India earlier had a very good captain, who is an outstanding and world-class performer. But now, the other players in the team are thinking – if he cannot do it, then what can we do? If a player like Kohli has been sacked as captain, they one can only imagine what can happen to the others. This is not a good message being sent across. The structure of the team has been dented.”

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However, Virat Kohli was sacked as Team India captain by the board just before the South Africa tour. Rohit Sharma was named as his replacement but he was ruled out of the entire series due to a hamstring injury. In his absence, KL Rahul has been leading the team in the ODI series. Notably, Rahul has also led the team in the Johannesburg Test as well in the absence of Virat Kohli, who was ruled out due to back spasms.

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“KL Rahul is looking meek. India’s display was also meek under him. He’s probably not ready for the position that has come to him. Mentally, he doesn’t seem to be ready. He was getting better as a cricketer. It’s hard on the guy as well. Rahul’s a wonderful player. But if you give him such a huge responsibility before he is prepared and that too with a legend already present in the team, it is not easy to absorb,” Salman Butt concluded.