Kohli might give up captaincy in other formats to focus on his batting: Shastri

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri says Virat Kohli might give up captaincy in other formats after doing so in the T20 version to deal with the intense pressure associated with the job especially in Covid19 timesShastris tenure with the Indian team ended with an early exit from T20 World Cup Kohli who has taken rest for the T20 series and one Test against New Zealand to recover bubble fatigue in Covid19 times has relinquished captaincy in the shortest format after the showpiece eventSpeaking to India Today Shastri was asked about Kohli giving up captaincy in other formats to manage his workload better In redball cricket India has been number one for the last five years under his captaincy Unless he wants to give it up or he is mentally fatigued where he says he wants to focus on my batting which can happen in the near futureIt wont happen immediately but it can happen The same might happen with whiteball cricket he might say he had enough and he focuses on Test captaincy It is his mind and body that will make that decision He wont be the first A lot of successful players have given up captaincy to focus on their batting for their sideShastri said Kohli remains the fittest cricketer in the team by farHe is hungry for sure fitter than anybody in the team No doubt about that When you are physically that fit your longevity only increases On the captaincy part of it it will be his decision but I see if anything he might say no to white ball cricket but red ball he should carry on because he has been the best ambassador for the test cricket That will make him carry on said ShastriShastri also foresees many players in the team including Kohli taking long breaks to recover from bubble fatigue He also spoke on the relevance of split captaincy in Covid19 times Especially in these times it will reduce the pressure on the individual A lot of players will take breaks I foresee lot of plays wanting breaks and rightly so You need to switch off from the game from time to timeShastri reiterated that playing World Cup right after IPL was not ideal for the team but didnt want to blame BCCI as the rescheduling happened because of Covid19 I wont say that but because IPL was cancelled in April they had no choice But I dont think that will happen in the future Kapil is right about the scheduling part because it will take its toll he said when asked to comment on Kapil Devs statement on players prioritising IPL over countryAlso Read Ajinkya Rahane to lead India in 1st Test allformat stars rested against New ZealandIt is not just the BCCI every board has to be careful on scheduling Dont forget we play more cricket than any other team in the world if you add the IPLNew Zealand and Australia face in the final on Sunday The teams that are playing in the final on Sunday they have hardly played in the last 6 months and you can see the difference They have played enough to keep themselves sharp but they have got enough round of rest at times forced as well Shastri saidThis 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