The journey of Virat Kohli as the Indian skipper in the shortest format of the game has been nothing short of era-defining as the talismanic leader will be making way from the captaincy role of one of the best sides in the world in T20 Internationals after tonight’s last Super 12 group stage fixture against Namibia in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in Dubai. Along with captain Kohli, it will also be Team India head coach Ravi Shastri’s last game as in charge.
Kohli-led India were knocked out from the marquee ICC event after losing 2 of their 4 games to Pakistan and New Zealand. With the final nail on the coffin coming in the wake of New Zealand defeating Afghanistan, the Men in Blue have all but no hopes of qualifying to the knockout stage of the T20 WC this year even if they overpower minnows Namibia handsomely by the biggest of margins possible.
As it is often said that all good things come to an end, so has the time over Kohli-Shastri leadership for Indian cricket as the iconic former India batsman Rahul Dravid is set to fill in the boots of Shastri across all formats following the latter’s tenure coming to a close in the top-most job of international cricket.
While it still hasn’t been revealed that who will take the baton forward after Kohli, it is safe to say that Rohit Sharma is expected to rise to the captaincy mantle as one of the most experienced campaigners out of the other current crop of players for the Men in Blue in T20Is.
Having won 5 Indian Premier League (IPL) titles with franchise Mumbai Indians (MI), Sharma is likely to form a world-class working partnership with ‘the Wall’ of Indian cricket aka the legendary Mr. Dravid.
However, Kohli is expected to be at the helm in the ODI and Test formats for Team India for the foreseeable future, to say the least. Though Kohli might be granted a much-deserved break from international cricket as he is unlikely to feature in the upcoming T20I series against New Zealand at home in what is expected to be Sharma-Dravid’s first-ever assignment in the T20Is for India together.
Ahead of Kohli’s last appearance as India’s T20I skipper in tonight’s ICC World T20 2021 final group stage clash against underdogs Namibia, netizens took to Twitter and expressed a myriad of emotions from nostalgia to gratitude as the iconic duo of Kohli-Shastri bid adieu to the scene at Dubai International Stadium following the Men in Blue’s unceremonious exit from this year’s T20 World Cup.
Virat Kohli will play his last T20I as Team India captain in the match vs Namibia in Dubai (7:30 PM IST). India have won 29 T20 matches out of 49 played under his captaincy before his final performance as a leader tonight.
