‘One of the most successful in the world’ – Virender Sehwag reacts as Virat Kohli steps down as India’s Test captain

In what comes as shocking news, Virat Kohli has stepped down as India’s Test captain. On Saturday (January 15), he took to Twitter and Instagram to announce his decision of quitting captaincy in the longest format of the game. This was just a day after South Africa had beaten India in the three-match Test series by 2-1 under his leadership.

In his statement, he said that everything has to come to an end, and mentioned the fact that he did his job with utmost honesty. As this was shocking news, it shook the cricketing fraternity and thus, several former cricketers spoke about his decision and gave their views on the same. One of them happened to be Virender Sehwag.

The legendary opener congratulated Kohli on a successful stint as India’s Test skipper. He also went on to say that the batting maestro wasn’t just India’s greatest Test captain, but was also one of the greatest Test captains in the world. Sehwag also said that Kohli could be proud of his record.

Looking forward to watch you dominate with the bat: Virender Sehwag

“Many Congratulations #ViratKohli on an outstanding career as India’s Test Captain. Stats don’t lie & he was not only the most successful Indian Test Captain but one of the most successful in the world. Can be very proud @imVkohli & looking forward to watch u dominate with the bat,” read Virender Sehwag’s Tweet.

Many Congratulations #ViratKohli on an outstanding career as India's Test Captain. Stats don't lie & he was not only the most successful Indian Test Captain but one of the most successful in the world. Can be very proud @imVkohli & looking forward to watch u dominate with the bat

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) January 15, 2022

Kohli became India’s Test captain during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2014-15 and since then, has primarily held the role. The 33-year-old has led India in 68 Tests, out of which, he has won 40, and lost 11. As a matter of fact, statistically speaking, the Delhi batter is the third-most successful captain in the history of the longest format of the game. Only Graeme Smith (53 wins), Ricky Ponting (48 wins), Steve Waugh (41 wins) have won more Tests than Kohli.

Some of his major achievements as a Test captain include winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2018-19 in Australia, and leading the Asian side to the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) Final. As for his captaincy in the shorter versions of the game, while he decided to quit T20I captaincy after the T20 WC 2021, he was recently removed as ODI captain by the BCCI.