Former Indian leader Ravi Shastri believes Virat Kohli could step down as captain after T20 Internationals to deal with the Kovid-19 crisis. Shastri’s role with the team ended with India’s first exit at the ICC T20 World Cup in the UAE. When asked about Kohli’s captaincy, Shastri said he “could relinquish his leadership role from other nations in order to better run the project”.

He said, “India has been at the top of the Test cricket table for the past five years under his leadership. He will not want to leave him unless he is mentally exhausted. However he is looking forward to the fight soon.

He said, “It doesn’t happen right away, but it can happen. It could happen with white cricket (in a limited number of overs) as well. He could say he wants to look at Test captaincy now.”

Describing Kohli as a very strong cricketer, Shastri said, “Many of the best players have left the captaincy to focus on their strikes. They are definitely hungry to do well in the game, they are more than anyone on the team.” “No doubt. When you are strong you get older in the game. On the captaincy side it is his choice but I see him rejecting cricket for white football. But he should continue to play red cricket because he has been a very good Test cricket ambassador.”

Shastri hopes that apart from Kohli, many other players will be able to take a long break to cope with the fatigue of the bio bubble. He also emphasized the importance of multi-ethnic leaders during the Kovid-19 era. “It’s important to have different captains at times like this because it reduces player stress. I think most players want to take a break. You have to take a break from the game from time to time.” he said.

T20 World Cup: Babar Azam’s speech in the dressing room will touch your heart, watch the video

When asked about India’s World Cup winner Kapil Dev about players who put the IPL ahead of the country, Shastri said, “After the IPL suspension in April, they (BCCI) had nothing to do. I. Don’t think it will happen again in the future. Kapil, says the truth about the IPL policy because it adds to the fatigue of players.