PUNE: Former Indian cricketer and team director, Ravi Shastri said on Monday that Virat Kohli has the capability to lead the team and he should replace Mahendra Singh Dhoni as India’s captain in One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and T20s.
In an interview, Shastri said that it was only Kohli’s brilliance that helped India to qualify for the semi-finals in the World T20 cup. He said that Kohli also led his team brilliantly to ensure that Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) reached the final for the third time.
Shastri said the decision to remove Dhoni would be a difficult one but it would be in the interest of Indian cricket. He said that the time has come for the selection committee to give the command of all three formats in Kohli’s hand.
“If I am the chairman of selectors, I would be thinking to make him (Kohli) the new captain. Virat is ready to lead in all formats. It’s a hard decision, it is a catch 22 but like I said, I would be thinking from now on,” Shastri said.
“So, the game has to evolve, hard decisions have to be taken but such is life. And nothing wrong in that, it is in the interest of Indian cricket. Down the line if you think Dhoni is still the best captain, keep him as captain. But the issue here is the breaks and do you have a guy ready. So, my answer is you have a guy ready,” he added.