‘Kohli will have to give up his ego’

Virat Kohli needs to shed his ego to play under a new leader after giving up the Test captaincy, cricket icon Kapil Dev said as uncertainty swirled about the future of the national team.

Kohli, 33, announced his surprise departure late on Saturday having already quit as T20 captain last year and been sacked as head of the one-day side soon afterward.

Dev, who led India to glory in the 1983 World Cup, welcomed Kohli’s decision, saying he was going through a rough time and appeared to be under a lot of pressure.

But he said that Kohli will now have to knuckle down and bite his tongue if he is to remain in the team under a new captain.

“Even Sunil Gavaskar played under me. I played under K Srikkanth and Mohammad Azharuddin. I had no ego,” Dev, 63, was quoted as saying to the Mid-Day newspaper, referring to other greats of the era.

“Virat will have to give up his ego and play under a young cricketer. This will help him and Indian cricket. Virat should guide the new captain, new players. We cannot lose Virat, the batsman, no way.”

The race to succeed Kohli is seen as a contest between Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul and - in distant third place - the younger Rishabh Pant, 24.

TV commentator Harsha Bhogle tweeted on Monday that Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah should also be considered.

Rohit, 34, is already Twenty20 and ODI captain and has led the Mumbai Indians to five victories in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

With Rohit injured, Rahul, 29, captained India in the recent second Test in South Africa and will lead the one-day side in the upcoming series beginning Wednesday.

ARR