Split captaincy could help Virat Kohli’s longevity, feels Tom Moody

Following MS Dhoni’s announcement of stepping down as India’s limited-overs captain in 2017, Virat Kohli was named the skipper across formats. Since then, India made it to the finals of 2017 Champions Trophy and the semifinals of the 2019 World Cup. Meanwhile, Kohli made it to the top by reaching the 10,000 mark in ODI cricket and has scored 43 ODI centuries so far. In the meantime, limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma, who has won four IPL titles with Mumbai Indians, too, has proved himself as an able leader. According to former Australia cricketer Tom Moody, split-captaincy in Indian cricket could help preserve Virat Kohli’s quality as a batsman. 

Moody did, however, note that it was much easier for a team like England to implement split captaincy, due to the simple fact that they have a lot of one-format specialists. 

"On the captaincy, it really depends. Like for England, Eoin Morgan is not a Test player, he has been, but he is not recognised as a Test player, he is a specialist white-ball cricketer. So it works for them pretty easily, it’s a natural transition. With India’s example, which is probably the most high profile example, the only reason I would prefer split captaincy there is purely to preserve the longevity of Virat Kohli. Virat Kohli is a superstar, we all know that. And he is an absolute delight to watch, to compete, as a captain and as a batsman,” Moody told Cricbuzz.

“But if you took the white-ball captaincy away from him, for instance, the question and discussion should be can we have this special talent for longer? Because the role of the captain in three formats in any country is a significant role, but in India, it’s another league. It’s a completely different pressure. And I would be concerned that if Kohli maintains all the three captaincy roles, are we losing two-three years of international cricket from one of the game’s greatest-ever players?" questioned Moody.