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Kohli too imposing to want to hand anything over – Hussain on split captaincy in India

Kohli
by Wisden Staff 1 minute read

Former England captain Nasser Hussain is of the opinion that a split captaincy would not work in India, because of the imposing nature of current skipper Virat Kohli.

It had been suggested after the 2019 World Cup that the BCCI was considering spliting the captaincy so Kohli could continue leading in Tests and T20Is, while Rohit Sharma takes over the mantle in ODIs.

However, Hussain doesn’t see that as a possibility. Speaking to Cricbuzz during a podcast, Hussain said: “It depends on the character, Virat (Kohli) is such an imposing character, all encompassing, it would be difficult for him to hand over, he wouldn’t want to hand anything over. Whereas with England, we have (Eoin) Morgan and (Joe) Root, two likeable, laidback (characters).”

Hussain even went on to say that split coaching might be a thing in the future. Citing the example of Trevor Bayliss, under whom England were highly successful in the white-ball formats but struggled in Test cricket, Hussain said: “Coaches have so much to do, whether you should have a split coach, they have so much on their plate. Just to give you a fresh perspective, like Trevor Bayliss, for example.

“He cracked white ball for England, we didn’t really crack Test match cricket. So maybe two different coaches would be the right way to go.”

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