No one expected Virat Kohli to resign from Test captaincy, says Shardul Thakur

India suffered a harrowing 1-2 defeat against South Africa in the three-match Test series. With the defeat, India also lost the chance of winning their first-ever Test series in the rainbow nation. A day after the series loss, Virat Kohli shocked the entire cricket fraternity with his decision to quit India's Test captaincy. 

Earlier, after the T20 World Cup 2021, Kohli had relinquished his T20I captaincy, and later, ahead of the South Africa tour, the 33-year-old was removed from the ODI leadership, as the BCCI preferred a single skipper for the white-ball format. Kohli stepped down as India's most successful Test captain, winning 40 out of 68 Test matches. 

Meanwhile, Indian fast bowler Shardul Thakur opened up about Kohli's decision to step down as Test captain after the Test series against South Africa. Thakur reckoned that it was an emotional moment for the team after Virat Kohli told them about the same. 

 "It was an emotional moment for everyone. No one expected that he would resign from Test captaincy".

“We did well under his captaincy, especially overseas. Those series we lost overseas were close ones. The team was doing well under him and no one expected this. However, now that he has made his decision, everyone should respect it,” said Thakur.

Following Virat Kohli's resignation, the debate about who will be India's next captain in Test cricket is something which is being speculated by fans as well as former cricketers. As of now, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul seem like the two top contenders who are being looked at by the BCCI for Test captaincy.

A few former cricketers are also of the opinion that India's wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant can also be considered for the Test captaincy role.