Gavaskar discusses the challenges facing Kohli in his new role

In the opinion of former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, leaving captaincy will allow Virat Kohli to concentrate more on his batting. He will play in his first test match against Sri Lanka in the first test match of his career. The Indian Test captain took over from MS Dhoni in January 2015, and during his 7-year stint, he captained India in 68 Tests, winning 40 and losing 17.

He scored his last hundred in November of last year, so his recent form has been poor. With an average of 28.14 in 27 innings since January 2020, he has scored 760 runs, including six fifties.”Being a captain means you’re always thinking about everybody else. It’s just natural to be concerned about your bowlers’ forms, there might be a slight injury, but as a batting unit, your Nos.4 and 5 are not getting any runs, getting out badly,” Gavaskar stated during a recent interview with Start Sports. ”You may be scoring runs yourself as a captain, but you are always thinking about the rest of the team. Your batting isn’t the focus. When you are not a captain, you can completely concentrate on your batting. That’s one of the biggest advantages of not being a captain,” he added. 

Now I think he needs to get used to not being in charge. I don’t care about anything else as long as he’s hitting with the bat,” Gavaskar concluded. India will play Sri Lanka in its first test match at Mohali on March 4.