Virat Kohli should have won more trophies during his tenure as a white-ball skipper, according to former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh. Tom Moody, a former Australian cricket player, called his time as white-ball skipper a "disappointment". As the Men In Blue get ready to defend its ICC T20 World Cup crown in a competition co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka next year, Harbhajan and Moody were speaking on the Rise of Champions show on JioHotstar.
India have been pooled in Group A with Pakistan, Namibia, the Netherlands, and the USA, and they will begin their campaign against the USA on February 7.
Former Australian captain Aaron Finch, the 2021 T20 World Cup winner, discussed expectations from India, said: "When you are an Indian team with so much experience and skill, people look at the team sheet and assume they have to win. It is a remarkable team, but that reputation carries its own weight as well."
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Despite Virat's tremendous success as a Test captain, Harbhajan expressed disappointment with his leadership in white ball. India lost the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 final by a staggering 180 runs to bitter rivals Pakistan, lost a hard-fought 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup semifinal by 18 runs while chasing a modest 240, and crashed out in the group stages of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 after suffering two crushing defeats to Pakistan and New Zealand.
Harbhajan said: "The kind of team Virat had, they could have won three or four trophies. Nahi jeete kuch toh karan honge, but I still feel unke paas achhi team thi (If they did not win, there must be a reason, but I still think he had a solid team)."
Sanjay Manjrekar expressed similar worries over team selection during the Kohli-Shastri era, stating, "Team selection under Ravi and Virat was always my biggest concern."
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AB de Villiers, a legendary South African batsman and close friend of Virat, had an opposing viewpoint, stating that "he feels irritated when players are judged on the basis of having won a World Cup."
"Frankly, it irritates me that people always judge a captain solely on whether they have won a World Cup. Saying 'that guy is useless because he has not won a World Cup' is unfair," he added.
Tom Moody concluded, while summing up the era: "The Virat Kohli era was an era of high expectation, but ultimately, disappointment."
India played 50 T20Is under Virat, won 30, lost 16, tied two, while two didn't produce any results. The team's win percentage was 60 in the shortest format. In 95 ODIs, Virat led India to 65 wins, 27 losses, one tie, and two ending with no-results.
