Changing Virat Kohli as a captain would destroy the culture of the Indian team: Brad Hogg

India scripted a memorable victory in Australia as they retained the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21 by 2-1. Team was without the services of their skipper Virat Kohli in the last three games as he was on paternity leave to be with his wife Anushka Sharma during the birth of their first child.

In the absence of Virat, India’s vice-captain in the purest format of the game, Ajinkya Rahane successfully led the team as they won the second and fourth Test while the third resulted in a draw. The 32-year-old Rahane is unbeaten in the five Tests as the Indian captain, winning four and drawing one.

Rahane’s exemplary performance as the leader of the squad stirred a debate in the cricket fraternity whether he should be handed over the reins of the team in the longest format of the game. Many are against this as under Virat, Team India has done exceedingly well and he was also named as the Test captain of the decade by the International Cricket Council (ICC) last year.

Virat Kohli bats better when he is the captain: Brad Hogg

However, there are some who feel that India needs a skipper like Ajinkya Rahane who is cool and composed. Detailing his opinion on the same, Australia’s veteran cricketer Brad Hogg argued that making a shift in the leadership can destroy the culture of the Indian team. Also, Hogg believes that being sacked from the captaincy will affect Virat’s batting in a negative way which will not be good for the team.

“He (Virat Kohli) bats better when he is the captain. I think if you change it, it would destroy the culture of that Indian team. It might affect Kohli’s batting. He wouldn’t want it to happen, but it will happen,” Brad Hogg said in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel.

Though the 49-year-old believes that Ajinkya Rahane did a great job in Australia and is a cool, calm and collective person, he will be better as the vice-captain only. Hogg further added that Virat Kohli leads by example and is on the face of the opposition and thus is a perfect leader for India.