Former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt has opined that, according to him, Rohit Sharma is a better captain and a natural leader than Virat Kohli. His comments came after Team India failed to win another ICC title (World Test Championship (WTC)) under Virat’s captaincy.
Questions are being raised about Virat Kohli’s captaincy after India’s recent loss in the WTC Final against New Zealand. He is yet to win an ICC title as skipper. Under Virat, India have also gone down in the 2017 Champions Trophy final and the 2019 World Cup semi-final.
In a video uploaded on his YouTube channel, Salman Butt also stated that since the 32-year-old doesn’t have a big tournament win under his belt people are going to question his captaincy credentials.
“Personally, I feel Rohit Sharma is a better captain (than Virat Kohli). I had observed his captaincy in-depth during the Asia Cup (2018). The way he operated as stand-in captain, he looked very natural. Coming back to Virat Kohli, India were on top for five years but sadly couldn’t win the biggest match of all, so people are bound to raise questions,” he said.
According to the 36-year-old, history will only remember captains who have won major titles. He admitted that the luck factor also matters a little, which hasn’t gone Virat Kohli’s way, pointing out to the no-ball in the 2017 Champions Trophy final.
Salman Butt further analyzed Virat Kohli’s captaincy, stating that the latter’s over-aggression can be misinterpreted, especially when India don’t win. He also felt that calm captains have a better chance of winning titles.
The Virat Kohli-led Team India’s next assignment will be the five-match Test series against England, starting at the Trent Bridge, Nottingham, from August 4.