'Thanks for headache you have left behind for your successor' - Ashwin pays emotional tribute to Virat Kohli

Senior off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has come forward and posted a few heartfelt messages for Virat Kohli after he shockingly stepped down as India's Test skipper on Saturday. Kohli made this decision a day after the team's Test series loss to South Africa.

Advertisment

Virat Kohli had led India in Tests for seven years and under his reign, India never lost a home Test series and had occupied the top spot for 42 months. Without a doubt, Kohli was one of India's best Test skippers.

In a series of tweets, Ravichandran Ashwin mentioned that the cricket captains will always be spoken about with respect to their records and the kind of triumphs they managed but Virat Kohli's 'legacy' as a captain will stand for the kind of benchmarks set by him. He then credited Virat Kohli for building the team.

In his final tweet, Ravichandran Ashwin wrote that Kohli has left a major headache for his successor, citing that it will hard for anyone to meet the standards he has set.

Advertisment

Read the tweets here:

Cricket captains will always be spoken about with respect to their records and the kind of triumphs they managed, but your legacy as a captain will stand for the kind of benchmarks you have set. There will be people who will talk about wins in Australia, England , Sl etc etc

— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) January 16, 2022

Wins are just a result and the seeds are always sown well before the harvest! The seeds you managed to sow is the kind of standard you set for yourself and hence set the expectations straight with the rest of us. Well done @imVkohli on the headache you

— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) January 16, 2022

have left behind for your successor and that’s my biggest takeaway from your stint as captain. “We must leave a place at such an altitude that the future can only take it higher from there on “ 👏👏👏 #Virat #CricketTwitter

— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) January 16, 2022

As per reports, KL Rahul, white-ball captain Rohit Sharma, and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah are the candidates to succeed Virat Kohli in the longest format, with Rahul being the frontrunner for the role. India's next Test assignment will be a two-match series against Sri Lanka at home starting February 25. The first Test will be played in Bengaluru, while the final one will be staged in Mohali.