'He's a little bit quieter, the emotions are not there': Hogg suggests 'break' for Kohli after captaincy exit
Kohli's exit from the captaincy role has got everyone talking. Former Australia spinner Brad Hogg has also noticed a "quieter" Kohli after the leadership fiasco, saying the 33-year-old Indian was not taking authority during the South Africa tour.
The Indian team has witnessed a leadership overhaul in the past couple of months. Virat Kohli isn't currently a part of the leadership bunch after the mercurial cricketer relinquished Test captaincy last month, pulling curtains down on a seven-year fruitful stint in world cricket. The decision was preceded by Kohli's sacking as ODI captain and a rumoured discrepancy between him and BCCI president Sourav Ganguly.
Kohli's exit from the captaincy role has got everyone talking. Former Australia spinner Brad Hogg has also noticed a "quieter" Kohli after the leadership fiasco, saying the 33-year-old Indian was not taking authority during the South Africa tour.
"Kohli is a little bit lost in the way he wants to go about his business. He's a little bit quieter, the emotions are not there. When he's batting, he's not really in the bowler's face. Yes, there were glimpses or two, but really it's not the Kohli of old, that determined player who wants to take authority," Hogg said on his YouTube channel.
"When he's not in a leadership position, he's a little bit uncertain of how to conduct himself. I think Kohli has got at least 5 years of cricket left in him for India," he added.
Hogg, who represented Australia in seven Tests, 123 ODIs, and 15 T20Is, also suggested that Kohli should take a break to allow Rohit Sharma to stamp his authority as a leader in the dressing room.
India's next Test series will be at home against Sri Lanka during which Kohli is expected to play his landmark 100th game in the longest format. Kohli the batter is also slated to play for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) edition.
"They've got West Indies lined up next where they can turn things around. I think it would be wise if Kohli can take just a little break, to allow Rohit Sharma to show that authority in the dressing room with the next generation of players.
"Once that is settled, he can come back for the Sri Lanka series. For me, Rohit and Virat, with Virat not knowing how to quite attack the game moving forward could be a little bit of an issue. It's not deliberate, or ego about it, it's just a change of scenery for Kohli," Hogg further said.