Virat Kohli was ‘Unsettled’ when MS Dhoni passed him Test captaincy? Here’s what Former NZ Star said!

Looking past their careers, MS Dhoni called it time from Test cricket after the Boxing Day Test in 2014 in Australia, passing the lead to Virat Kohli to lead a new Indian team. Though the 1024-15 Australia tour was exciting for Kohli to evolve as a red-ball cricketer, he was limited in his early days- particularly on oversea trips, where Dhoni had a solid presence.

Speaking about one such incident involving Virat Kohli, former New Zealand pacer Neil Wagner spoke about how Kohli was much more vulnerable to short-pitch deliveries during India’s 2014 tour of Australia.

“This Test match, I remember the wicket being quite flat, but there was a bit of pace and bounce. Eden Park is quite small on the straight, but the square boundaries there are pockets that are helpful. I remember bowling a couple of bouncers and how they played it, and particularly [Virat] Kohli looked a bit unsettled. He didn’t know if he should take it on or not and how to play,” Wagner said on the Red Inker Cricket Podcast.

Speaking about Virat Kohli and his Test career, he played 210 innings of 123 matches with 9230 runs to his name. He completed 31 half-centuries and 30 centuries during this time, with the highest score of 254*. He also captained India in 68 red-ball matches, out of which the team won 40 of them- making him the team’s most-successful captain in the longest format of the game.