Kohli's decision to call it quits has been coming for a while now

Kohli’s captaincy has been on a decline for a while now. For that matter, his batting too has taken a fair bit of beating with no centuries to show in the last two years across formats. The South Africa series saw Kohli clutching at straws for a last bit of redemption, but that too was denied. Kohli’s open-confrontation with the BCCI just before the South Africa series also seemed to portray that he was very sure of what the outcome would be of the series. And that just about sums up how Kohli’s decision-making has been over the years.

Of course, there was this much mellowed version of Kohli during the just concluded Test series against the Proteas. Partly, because of the calming influence of Rahul Dravid as coach and partly because of his own lack of runs as a premier batsman of his team. However, Kohli was in his ‘elements’ on the penultimate day of the series when he seemingly crossed the line by venting his frustration on the stump microphone. Doubtless, it was unbecoming of a Test captain and more so from a player who is so passionate about Test cricket. Kohli definitely didn’t earn anything by such an improper display of his poor conduct on the field when the whole world was watching him on TV. Not that Kohli’s behaviour over the years has been exemplary for the young kids but this one was pretty disappointing from a player who has become so colossal in international cricket.

It is also unlikely that Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara both will ever feature together in a Test match. Certainly, not Rahane after his horrendous run with the bat (an average of 20 and just 500 runs since the beginning of 2021). There is one school of thought that argues that India shouldn’t be in hurry to say goodbye to Pujara along with Rahane as it will put unnecessary burden on the Test middle order. That may not be the case. Rohit Sharma and Kohli are veterans in this batting line-up and KL Rahul is no longer a youngster. Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman’s last match in red-ball cricket was against Australia in January 2012 in Adelaide. Both were the backbone of India’s middle order for over a decade. Similarly, Dravid and Sourav Ganguly made their debut together in England in 1996 and Sanjay Manjrekar and Navjot Singh Sidhu never gain played Test cricket. In his customary post-match press conference Kohli was trying to defend both of his colleagues but he too knows that a debate is also gaining ground over his diminishing power as a superlative batsman. Maybe, it is time for Kohli to rediscover his mojo as a Test batsman.

This series defeat at Cape Town will hurt Kohli a little more than the series loss against England in 2018. The 1- 4 score line wasn’t a true reflection of how India had competed in that series but this 1-2 shoreline will put a question mark on his legacy as Test captain. Statistically, his success rate is as good as Clive Llyod and Ricky Ponting (among all-time great captains) but failing not once but twice in South Africa which is considered the ultimate frontier for Team India will haunt Kohli forever. Remember, he is yet to win a Test series in England or New Zealand either. Among SENA countries (which is considered the modern benchmark to judge the Asian Test teams), Kohli has only conquered Australia. And, critics may always point out that Ajinkya Rahane did it even better with seemingly inferior resources against a much formidable Australian attack two years after Kohli’s historic triumph in 2019.

Kohli’s stubbornness with five-bowler theory at all costs seems to have back-fired in this series as well. With his own form under a bit of cloud along with Pujara and Rahane’s sustained struggle and the absence of Rohit Sharma (who was exceptional on tour of England in 2021, India’s last overseas assignment before this series), the focus should have been on bolstering the batting which hasn’t been great for a while now. India just managed to post 300 plus total only once in this series and that is one of the critical factors in India losing the rubber. India didn’t even manage 200 on two occasions (174 and 198) and on two occasions barely crossed the 200 mark (202 and 223). It seems that Kohli didn’t learn anything from the batting failures of 2018 when his team posted a 300 plus only once in that series as well. Pragmatism and past experience perhaps required a more conservative 7-4 combination than the all-attacking five bowlers in the playing XI.

Team India’s doesn’t have too many challenging Test matches this year (two home matches against Sri Lanka in February-March and a solitary Test in England in July). Kohli didn’t get an appropriate farewell as T20 skipper when his team failed miserably in the T20I World Cup in 2021. He wasn’t even aware that Pune ODI against England (March 2021) was the last one as captain. It was perhaps the only opportunity to sign-off in a grand style had he managed to win a historic Test series. Alas, that was not meant to be. Kohli’s career as batsman is a story of envy for millions of people but his captaincy stint never had a fairy-tale ending in any format of the game.