In his recent interview, Shastri claimed that if Kohli had continued as India’s Test captain for at least another couple of years, he would have become the most successful Test skipper, which some people wouldn’t have been able to digest.
“Whether Virat could have continued to lead India in Tests. For sure, he could have led India for at least 2 years because next two years India would be playing at home and who is coming over – 9 and 10 jacks, going by the rankings. But he would have then made it to 50-60 wins under his captaincy and a lot of people will not be able to digest that fact,” Shastri had said on Sports Tak.
Notably, Kohli, who led India to 40 wins in 68 Tests, needed 14 more triumphs to become the most successful skipper in the history of red-ball cricket. But after the 2-1 series loss against South Africa, the Delhi-lad stepped down from Test captaincy.
However, Shastri’s comments haven’t gone down well with his former teammate Manjrekar, who said he was a huge admirer of Shastri during their playing days as the Mumbaikar used to support youngsters. But, the ‘Shastri 2.0′ doesn’t make very sensible comments and Manjrekar even felt the former India head coach has an ‘agenda‘ behind his statements.
“I don’t have an idea. I was a huge admirer of Ravi Shastri. I played under him, he gave players support, a great fighter, senior. This Shastri 2.0 I don’t understand. What he says in public is expected, I don’t react to it. I don’t want to be disrespectful. He doesn’t make very intelligent comments, you can see the agenda behind it. It’s not an accurate cricketing observation,” Manjrekar told News18.
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