Not surprised at Virat's decision to quit captaincy, bio-bubbles are harsh: KP

Former England skipper Kevin Pietersen has suggested that the harsh biobubble life could be one of the reasons for Virat Kohlis stunning decision to quit Test captaincy and backed Rohit Sharma to lead India in all formats of the game going forwardKohli stunned the cricketing world by stepping down from the Test captaincy following Indias 12 series loss to South Africa He had relinquished T20 captaincy after the World Cup last year and was subsequently removed from ODI leadership leading to a war of words with the BCCI on the sequence of events leading to these developmentsPeople who are critical of the modern day sportsmen I think are foolish because these biobubbles are very hard to play in the former England star batsman told PTI in a group interaction on the sidelines of the Legends League Cricket hereIt will be very unfair to be too harsh to be critical Because you have not looked at Virat Kohli Kohli needs crowds he gets going from it he is an entertainerI think its very difficult for his personality to perform to the best of his Kohlis abilities in the bubble he reasoned as he reflected on sportspersons life in a COVIDscarred worldThe 33yearold Kohli held the record for most Test wins by an Indian captain 40 with only Graeme Smith Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh having won more matches than him Pietersen said he was not surprised when Kohli quit captaincy from all formatsA lot of players have suffered It is the greatest job in the world But when you put them in a bubble its certainly not the greatest job because there is no fun the 41yearold saidIm actually not surprised that Virat wants just a little bit of a break from that extra pressure because its damn difficult playing in these bubbles he saidIts very difficult to judge all International sportsmen be it premier league footballers or any sportsman around the world playing in a pandemic Pietersen said from his perspective he would not have performed well for two years without any crowd in the stadiums As a batter I feed on the energy of fans and there are a lot of these players be it in football rugby or tennisRohit Sharma should be captain Pants time will comeVicecaptain KL Rahul is leading India in the ongoing ODI series in South Africa with Rohit Sharma injured Pietersen backed Rohit to captain India across all formats once he regains fitness The bighitting batter is expected to be back for the home limitedovers series against the West Indies next monthIve always loved Hitman Rohit Sharma Hes a fabulous player every time hes batting Ive got to watch His captaincy is great for the Mumbai Indians too So hes probably next in line Pietersen saidRencently legendary Sunil Gavaskar backed Rishabh Pant to be the Indian captain but Pietersen said the wicketkeepers turn would come laterYou are spoilt for choice But Pant not yet maybe one day But when you have got Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul you have got some mighty cricketersFull faith in Rahul Dravid to tide over the transition phasePietersen also backed head coach Rahul Dravid to steer India through the transition phase that is upon the team I love Rahul Dravid Im looking forward to his progress with the national side He has done wonders for the youngsters So Im looking forward to seeing him progress with the senior players Pietersen saidLegends League will grow the sport in OmanThe Englishman is part of the World Giants which will open its campaign against the Asian Lions team in the Legends League Cricket here on Friday Believe me when you get over the white line you want to play well We all are looking forward to itThis first edition will be a difficult one purely based on the fact that there was a lack of time but when season two happens in September the guys will be much better prepared Growing the game here is our responsibility he concludedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever