'Specially under Virat Kohli that India really took Test cricket seriously': Graeme Smith

Legendary South Africa captain Graeme Smith recently spoke about the future of Test cricket and also mentioned former India captain Virat Kohli in his comments. While commentating during the 1st Test match between England and South Africa on Sky Sports, Smith reckoned that only five or six countries might be playing Test cricket in coming years. The 41-year-old Smith also mentioned how Kohli led India’s rise in red-ball cricket and India took the format seriously under his captaincy.

'Under Virat Kohli that India really took Test cricket seriously,' says Graeme Smith

“With Test cricket, it's just iconic nations or the big cricketing nations that are contributing to Test cricket at the moment. I think it's fantastic especially under Virat Kohli that India really took Test cricket seriously. They lead the way with that. But as long as we've got competitive teams, you're not going to have 10, 11, 12, 13 or 14 competitive teams. You might only be down to five or six nations that play Test cricket at this level,” Smith said on Sky Sports.

Virat Kohli's time as the Test skipper of Team India

Virat took over the leadership of Indian Test squad, after MS Dhoni retired from the format in 2014. He led the team in a total of 68 Test matches till 2022 and is hailed as the most successful captain for Team India in red-ball cricket. His win percentage of 58.82% is unmatched by the legends like Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly, Mohammad Azharuddin and Sunil Gavaskar, who led India in 45+ Test matches.

However, Kohli’s time as the Indian captain came to a dramatic ending in 2022 after he resigned from the position in January this year. Earlier last year, Kohli announced that he will be stepping down from India’s captaincy in the T20I format after the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 in UAE, but was expected to lead the team in the remaining formats. However, BCCI removed Kohli from the position in ODI cricket and asked him to keep his position in the Test format.

However, Kohli decided to resign from the role and play solely as a batter. Ever since stepping down, Kohli has been widely criticized for not hitting big knocks. However, Team India has continued to back the cricket sensation while giving him every possible opportunity. Kohli will be next in action for India, during the Asia Cup 2022 tournament.