'We always remember winners' - Former England cricketer reacts to Virat Kohli's 'failed captain' remark

Virat Kohli (Image credits: Twitter)

Virat Kohli is regarded as India's greatest Test captain of all time. His fighting spirit to win every game, whether at home or away, is exceptional and has led India to greater heights in the longer format of the game. Under his leadership, India reached the World Test Championship Final in 2021 and also won the twin series against Australia. However, when it comes to ODIs and T20Is, there are always different opinions about his captaincy, as the former India captain failed to win a Cricket Governing Body tournament.

Kohli-led India reached the knockouts several times but failed to win any of them. Speaking on the latest podcast of his Indian T20 League franchise, the ace batter said that he was considered a failed captain as he could not give a major trophy to his country. Kohli, however, said that he never judged himself after hearing such remarks.

'I was considered as a failed captain': Kohli

Speaking on the Bangalore podcast, Kohli said: “Look you play to win tournaments, and a lot was made of it, to be honest. We reached the finals of 2017 Champions Trophy, we reached the semis of the World Cup and finals of the Test Championship, and I was considered as a failed captain. I never judged myself from that point of view.

“What we ended up achieving as a team and the cultural change, for me that’s always going to be a matter of pride because tournaments happen for a certain period of time but a culture happens over a long period of time, and for that, you need consistency, for that you need more character than just winning a tournament.”

Reacting to Kohli's revelations, former England spinner Monty Panesar said everyone remembers only the winners of the tournament. “Unfortunately, that’s the pressure of being captain of India. No one remembers second or third-place teams. We always remember winners of Cricket Governing Body tournaments,” the former cricketer said.

Kohli decided to step down from the T20I captaincy and was subsequently removed from the ODI captaincy last year. The Indian Cricket Board was not impressed with two captains for the shorter formats and appointed Rohit Sharma as the captain of T20Is and ODIs. After losing the series against South Africa, Kohli decided to step down as Test captain as well.