Former Australia captain Ian Chappell does not find Mahendra Singh Dhoni good enough to be India’s Test captain, saying he was past his prime as far as leading the side and it was right time to hand the reins of the team to Virat Kohli.
“I think it time for Dhoni to go and may be it is right time for Kohli to come in as captain,” Chappell said.
“Certainly, he (Dhoni) is not a Test captain. I think he is a good captain in shorter-version of the game. I don’t think there would be a problem to give it Kohli now, though,” he said.
Chappell said India need a fresh brain to lead the side, but Indian selectors are not ruthless to take hard decisions.
“Indian selectors do not have the ruthless quality as Australian selectors have. They wait for the guy to retire. I mean after he (Dhoni) lost 4-0 to England and Australia, if he would have been an Australian captain, he would have gone. He did nothing to inspire the team,” he said.
“You can always loose, that is fine, but you go down fighting. I did not find him do that. To me the captain has lost his usefulness and it is time for him to go.”
Chappell said 27 is about right age for Kohli to lead the side.
“I don’t think captaincy would affect Kohli adversely because he is a very strong character and is a confident cricketer. So he can work out (things) as a captain. At 27, you have got four to five years for a player to peak, and it is crucial to give the guy the captaincy.
