Virat is ready to captain in all formats, says Shastri

New Delhi, May 30

Ravi Shastri, a former director of the Indian team, feels Virat Kohli is ready to lead in all three formats of the game. “If I am the chairman of selectors, I would be thinking in that fashion, absolutely. It is time to start thinking. You have to see India have no major event in three years till the 2019 World Cup. This is your best chance to think and build.”      

Shastri made it clear that MS Dhoni can still contribute as a player. “By no stretch of imagination, you are taking anything away from MS. He can still contribute massively as a player. Time has come to allow him to enjoy himself, enjoy the game. It also depends on how much hungry MS is, how passionate he is. It’s a Catch-22 situation but you have to take hard decisions.” 

Shastri reminded that Kohli has been groomed as a leader over a period of time, and the time was now right to hand over the captaincy to him. 

“You have a guy who is ready. In the next 18 months, India will hardly play any ODIs, the gaps between Tests and ODIs are massive. So it’s time to look ahead.” 

Shastri said that one can take a cue from the Australian template. “Mark Taylor was a great captain but they started to groom Steve Waugh. Just when you thought that Waugh was firmly there, in came Ricky Ponting and then Michael Clarke. And now you have Steve Smith.”  — PTI