Harsha Bhogle on Virat Kohli quitting captaincy | The Final Word

[@2601shan1]

The reason this podcast was good is because Harsha answers questions without beating around the bush.

[@PeakFictionWithAms]

I noticed that too. Why is he so scared when talking about things in cricbuzz

[@achyuta4206]

@@PeakFictionWithAms Probably feels BCCI won't notice this podcast, and punish him for being frank.

[@hatebreeder84]

Harsha has said it like it is. God knows we have too many cheerleaders and fanboys in the commentator/journalist community who wouldn't say anything to offend the alpha dogs of Indian cricket. More power to Harsha, as far as I'm concerned!

[@samhot0]

Well said mate

[@bhargav38]

you think you are sensible person after calling others dogs ?

[@varunchoudhary3429]

@@bhargav38 Hahaha

[@punjabigundaa]

Harsha sat on the fence for 7 years of Kohli's captaincy. It was Manjrekar, Gavaskar, Kumble and even Simon Doul that pointed out the issues with Kohli's leadership style. Harsha never did that till Kohli resigned.

[@gpet23]

Spot on!!!

[@SamirDas-gp2oh]

Its very disappointing that the final word has just 27.5K subscribers You guys are heads and shoulders above any other podcast in how neutral and objective, your comments always are

[@ansar133]

they got to work on their production. better room , camera angles for starters.

[@anantsingh2806]

Why do we always forget it is always a team that wins or loses not a captain or players. More of a msd fan but Virat Kohli did brilliantly. Single handedly took us in the 2016 t20semis . 2018 England tour all about Virat Kohli , Australia all about Virat Kohli. If only we could have got bit more support results would have been different. Haters would say what about the matches in which he didn't contribute. We won most of them. 'A team is as good as it's leader '. Btw - loved the podcast guys !

[@rakaa31]

hahah in eng virat just scored run! what about the blunders he made with captaincy! in 2018 AUS tour you should thank pujara he scored 3 100s after being dropped in 1st test his avg was 75. so you better be correct yourself and see matches properly LOL

[@SathishKumar-js8uo]

@@rakaa31 who win the series macha

[@SathishKumar-js8uo]

@@rakaa31 who win the series macha

[@ramdharisinghdinkar1069]

Bsdk pahle sentence me bolta hai ki team karti hai aur uske baad Sara credit Kohli ko. Kohli fan kuchh bhi karenge usko defend karne ke liye. He is an below average captain. With the team he has he should have won more tournaments than dhoni. He is not good at decision making at all. Neither does he make good decisions while selecting the team.

[@rajeshwarib1394]

@@ramdharisinghdinkar1069 bhai white ball mei beshak avg captain h but red ball cricket mei wo best h

[@anuranhaloi7482]

It was the form of Pujara and Rahane and Virat's absolute faith in them, let virat down eventually. Final nail in the coffin.

[@nikunjdixit1175]

I honestly think that part of his reluctance to let them go was because his batting performance was very similar to Pujara and Rahane during the same time. So he didn't exactly have the stance to drop Pujara and Rahane when he hasn't been doing any better.

[@kshitijvyas4626]

@@nikunjdixit1175 , well deciphered ! Knowing off Kohli’s agression he was decently doing well in T20’s and One days until pre Covid era the biggest problem though is dipping of his form after the New Zealand tour early Jan 2020 at the same time while Pujara and Rahane too failed to score in test matches , once test matches and scheduled tour started towards the end of 2020 , the weakness in the batting was exposed and he knew that indirectly the questions will be asked about his place if Rahane and Pujara has to go and hence he had to take a stand for them in media , I wonder if he was still in form in these 2 years in test matches , it would have been intresting to see who would have filled middle order ! Kohli departing at a time when india lacks test match consistency with no legacy left behind also contributes to the fact that there was no plan of shadowing n handing over the reigns to somoene deserving !

[@nikunjdixit1175]

@@kshitijvyas4626 Well, I would say he's still doing pretty well in ODI's and T20I's, but even in those formats, there is a very distinct drop in his conversion rates. It was practically unheard of for Kohli to make a 50 and get out and this has become almost routine these days in ODI's and Tests. But it is really in Tests where his form has dropped off a lot. He's averaging in the 20's in the last 2 years, same as Rahane and Pujara. So in terms of form, he doesn't exactly have a leg up over the other two, but because he is Kohli and his form pre-Covid was so extraordinary, he has some more rope over the other two.

[@anuranhaloi7482]

@@nikunjdixit1175 agreed. But if we talk about the SAF series only. Had Vihari and Shreyas played the last test, who knows! Yk. Considering the track record of our young debutants without the baggage of failure doing well in recent times.

[@sudhangshudas3099]

Well, him being the captain, he had the power to drop them. Why didn't he?

[@mrkipling2201]

I was at the Oval for the last day of the test match last year. We were going ok but as soon as the Indian bowlers took one or two wickets, I knew they would bowl us out and quickly.

[@tushar4evr776]

​@Siddharth Sriram Winning overseas have become difficult for all teams. England don't win anywhere except England. Australia haven't won an away series in 5 years. Same with South Africa, New Zealand and India as well. None of the teams are a great test side.

[@syedkamran8768]

@@tushar4evr776 well atleast india win tests outside and few test series as well in sena which is tough place for a asian country

[@abhigyanshukla3233]

@Siddharth Sriram lmao you won the WTC Final just because you're home conditions are exactly the same as that of England, plus The rain helped you, plus we threw our wickets. Plus you won because we and god let you won

[@ankitchauhan4803]

​@Siddharth Sriram compare this stats with team when virat wasn't the captain fool. He's not god he can't win every match bt look from where he took us from. From 7th to 1st for years. We used to looks like a domestic team in overseas bt we started to win we started to rule in overseas. Our bowling attack became literally fire gun. Under which captaincy? Virat the greatest test captain of India ever. Period!

[@idreeskanchwala]

well if you think about it Adam wasnt wrong in the last moments of the video, Harsha certainly is the "Virat" of Narrating Cricket

[@shravp769]

Let's Face it..India has a soft middle order for 2 years now. Amazing how they managed to win...if not for Rohit Sharma, Pant our batting would really struggle.

[@suhas5877]

Unpopular Opinion Rahane to captain- Had a breakthrough series in Australia and has a good connection with Dravid from the old RR days. Would definitely back him. Dravid can be to Rahane what Shastri was to Kohli. Also would be the best captain to Kohli and would be able to handle the alpha character. Hopefully this comment ages well😅

[@FinalWordCricket]

It has merit. Rahane needs runs, sure, but leading has brought out the best in him before.

[@sanddeepsai8578]

Rahane won't be in the team anymore. End of the road for him and rightly so.

[@RaviShankar-et3xc]

If for any reason Rohit and Pant declines test captaincy, it should be given to Rahane only. Forget about everything I'm ready to play a player just for his captaincy skills with batting as bonus. It has happened a lot of time before. Even we persisted with Kaif just for the energy he brought to the fielding despite better batsmen waited out. Rightly so.

[@chinnapparaju2683]

@@RaviShankar-et3xc Why not bring back Kohli as captain after September when Ganguly and Shall leave BCCI. Rohit is not a long term option. Rahane's place is not secure. Others are inexperienced. Kohli could groom Pant, Shreyas & Rahul for the next captain whoever comes closer to it

[@thiru_asc1]

@@chinnapparaju2683 kl Rahul has just no experience

[@ibrahims9311]

Ponting and Virat has to many resemblances ..both are role models for generations to come.. hats off to such cricketing legends

[@pratyushhere8146]

Not at all they resembles..... pointing was something different and virat is far more different.......punter used his players like a one team but virat never ever created that magic such that whole team looked in one direction......it's really disrespectful if ur comparing punter with virat...... btw I am big fan of virat the player

[@subhadeepdey3111]

Rohit Is a good option to captain ODIs and t20s but virat is perfect captain for test as in a 5 day game you need to have a bit aggresive approach that adds drama to the long haul. The only red tape for Indian crickets success is BCCI politics.

[@barunmishra3268]

The best thing is to igonore the politics and keep doing ones job as Captain and player like Sachin, Ganguly and even MSD.

[@chinnapparaju2683]

@@barunmishra3268 Ganguly was into controversies during his playing days and now again we are seeing a political atmosphere in Indian cricket.

[@suniljoshi5315]

That is real proper analysis, VOICE OF CRICKET

[@CakeorDeath420]

If you do anything worth doing in your life and you become good at it, when people come up to you and say "hey, it was easy", remember your comment above about Bhogale.

[@MamaMachanMapla]

It would make a lot of sense to make Ashwin as the Test captain for a year or so, and groom Pant or KL during that period... Rather than throwing them directly into the firing line. Ashwin is an extremely shrewd cricketer (not in the negative sense) and played a lot under MSD, which might help the team over the next few series. We are anyway playing 4 Tests at home against SL and NZ, and Ashwin is usually unplayable at home and has great confidence as well.

[@FinalWordCricket]

Yes, a bit like Kumble's time as captain. Could be an inspired choice.

[@Sriram2R]

He could not do much for Punjab.. Plenty of bad strategy

[@dhawal7476]

@@Sriram2R Can't compare IPL with Test Cricket. Ash is a cricketing brain and weapon when it comes to tests.

[@Robert-nu3ww]

First try understand the definition of a leader. From what angle Ashwin has the leadership quality? You need a vacation atleast for your vision

[@MamaMachanMapla]

@@Robert-nu3ww thanks for your comment which has no value whatsoever from any perspective. You must be such a thrill to be around with such an attitude... Wow.

[@bhuttasingh1607]

It’s so so sad to see virat not captain. Anymore he’s the best unbelievable taken india to dizzy heights very sad 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@karanskhera]

I would want Virat to lead the Indian side in the final test against England in July 2022. That should be the way to respect him.

[@punamjaiswal9865]

Usme agar haar gya tab toh bhai ro dega kohli

[@sedlife8249]

7:07 I love him for saying that . I have felt it for so long . Thanx for confirming sir

[@buntysonawane5750]

Love Harsha. Astute cricketing mind. Always on point. Think Rohit would be a good captain. Great podcast guys.

[@redraphael]

It was a great pod lads.. Thanks a lot!! 😀

[@zeratul78]

When Harsha speaks, I listen

[@expt22]

Once a VIP always a VIP. It will be a tough time but being the character he is, I am sure Virat will bounce back with runs. I am not a fan of Virat's antics, but there is no denying what he has achieved as a captain.

[@prataprudra]

Kohli will never be the same again. It was great as long as it lasted. Now watch a superstar trying too hard to hold on to the old self. Happens with every Indian superstar.

[@nikunjdixit1175]

I think that's a bit alarmist. I remember when people were talking about 'Endulkar', when Sachin was going through a rough year or two. What followed was a run of Sachin at his best, scoring big hundreds in ODI's and Tests, home and away, and playing a big part in India winning the 2011 World Cup. Kohli is too young to be someone who is past his prime.

[@speed0383]

Sorry mate. I don’t know you at all, but you are not in a position to judge a guy of extraordinary talent, skill and gift like Kohli. You couldn’t buy his DNA if you had a trillion dollars. Guys like him don’t come along very often. Write him off at your own peril

[@SANJEETKUMAR-nu4rq]

Such a shame of Harsha to not mention any positive aspects of Kohli’s captaincy who was undoubtedly among the leagues of greatest red ball captain world has ever seen. Kohli is a great leader and any deemed comments of a analyst won’t change that fact. I have been following Adam Collins and Harsha’s podcast since 2018 and I personally admire Collins knowledge of cricket and humble nature as an analyst and enjoy his way of expressing views. On the other hand Harsha lives in past and always compare the current India team to 90’s era and is often unnecessarily critical of the current team

[@tynanmenezes773]

Watch the full podcast mate.

[@nagatubein]

Thanks for inviting My Hero Harsha.

[@gauravsawardekar5056]

On Harsha's view that virat's record is not as great as it looks from no. of wins and away losses at the start of his captaincy stint: He took a team which was on 7th position and made it no. 1 for 5-6 straight years. And built a fast bowling attack that gave us the hope that this team can win overseas, So Harsha's opinion seems a little too critical and disrespectful on what he has achieved. Also don't forget that he hasn't lost any test series at home.

[@barunmishra3268]

This way it looks like Ganguly was even better than Kohli. Bhogale is indicating towards Captain being a team man, which is some how missing in Kohli, which was common in Ganguly and MSD. Only Ricky Ponting is a batsman Captain who excelled both as a batter and Captain at the same time. Kohli's aggression towards opponent is justified but not towards his own team mates and coaches. Things went wrong when he made Kumble quit. Kohli in fact didn't even mention Kumble and Dravid's name when he was talking about his captaincy term.

[@gauravsawardekar5056]

@@barunmishra3268 kumble I can understand but how many matches did kohli captained when dravid was coach???

[@gauravsawardekar5056]

@@barunmishra3268 I am not talking about his attitude, just feel that he deserved more respect. And for the aggression towards his own teammates point, have you heard the way the players talk about him??

[@shailesh5349]

@@barunmishra3268 he always stood up for his team player…whenever someone used to sledge his team member..he always protected them and went againts the opposition bowler

[@achyuta4206]

You are not giving credit to the bowling coach for the bowlers.

[@amitchakravarty7292]

The best analysis of Virat's captaincy - Adam, Geoff and Harsha on Cricket is Goldust! It will be great if you can get Harsha back for Ashes analysis as well please, he looked quite keen to share his views as an outsider :)

[@seesay865]

I'm not sure about Rohit(c), until recently we were talking about if he can be a good test player, don't forget he is a LBW bunny🐰 for good fast bowlers.

[@DeepakSharma-rt4eh]

Excellent stuff from you guys. I was ecpecting you guys to call harsha. You made my day. Deepak Sharma from Nigeria

[@FinalWordCricket]

Good to hear from you again, Deepak.

[@DeepakSharma-rt4eh]

God bless you both. My entire family watches you guys program. My wife and two daughters were watching you both for Ashes analysis but honestly speaking we were little sad that you both have not made a program within you two to analyse Virat Kohli's resignation. We love to hear you guys viewpoint. God bless you both great health and for your families as well, our wishes will keep pouring from Nigeria. We are only praying Virat departure from test captaincy must not drop his love and intensity for test cricket. Only red 🍒 lovers understand what is 15 session game. Simply marvellous.

[@visheshb7695]

He is now more in love than cricket summaries the present VK situation and the trust issues with BCCI making it more difficult for him...

[@Sikander72]

Kohli knew his days were limited as a captain and his performance also dipped he stepped down before it was taken off him and finally it was. This has happened to all great players and captains you can’t sustain the same level of high class performances and was unable to win any icc tournament so changes were due No ones bigger than the game and no one stays at the top forever Kohlis attitude was that he’s untouchable. Can’t doubt what a great player he is and what he’s done for India’s cricket he’s a role model and an inspiration With time he became a better person and his attitude nd personality off the field became admirable his passion professionalism the positive attitude is amazing and has gone down one of the greats of cricket. He should concentrate on achieving the 100 centuries and let go of his ego and just consider himself as a team player and not as leader. Never use to like him at first he came across as an arrogant loud character but I think he’s a nice guy.

[@ArjunArjun-bq9mz]

losers talking about kohli , wow amazing

[@shibsankarchakraborty5721]

Ponting with whom Virat has lot of resemblance to, worked under Clarke and performed reasonably well. Virat going to follow that suit

[@FinalWordCricket]

Yes, he should be able to handle that.

[@arnaboceanatyahoo]

Hopefully

[@system1982]

Refreshing to see Harsha speaking is mind and worried about not being too nice in the C box. Reminded me of pre-BCCI curated commentary.

[@vikramdharma2958]

Well i have a huge respect for Virat and i absolutely adore Ganguly. Having said that, I think after Virat decided to quit the T20's captaincy, BCCI should have understood and sympathized with Virat's decision and should have allowed him to be continued as captain in Odi and tests. ODI captaincy should have been retained with Virat till 2023 world cup atleast After that BCCI should have reconsidered it. And anyways Virat has done very good job in tests . A good and harmonious relationship between( captain- players- coach) is good for the team and a good relationship between (captain- selectors- coach) is good for Indian cricket. In shorter format all teams are getting strong day by day including Pakistan. We need a cohesive unit from BCCI president to captain who are having same goals to take Indian cricket forward. All this should have been handled better by higher authorities as they have bigger responsibility and with bigger responsibility demands better understanding and patience. I am sure Rohit will do a fine job . But BCCI being the most powerful in world cricket , it should not have sent wrong signals , thus indicating everything is not all right with Indian cricket.

[@arjoont7062]

Proper video and some amazing stuff. Keep up the good work guys!

[@MindSSetMedia3241]

Viral Kholi is among the very best batsmen in history. He is easily in the top 20 of the most elite in the history of cricket

[@sureshnandyala3505]

He is a true Indian captain....he is fight for victory not for self records....we r with u Kohli......

[@dr.riteshchhabra3611]

Great.. Invite Harsha more often !

[@heisenberg2478]

As Ashwin said he has left a lot of headache too his successor ✅

[@pritidodhia5059]

In time human performance doesn’t remain the same due to reasons which control the performance. Mental capacity, physical capacity, age, fatigue , family, other responsibilities etc. you look at each and every person in most fields.

[@taranbirsinghdulai4732]

Don’t think there is a better reader of game than Harsha - absolutely wonderful to hear his thoughts / Insights on the game I know many people might not agree - but Shreyas is a good prospect for captaincy

[@navalfa7291]

When you are married and have a child your testosterone level goes down automatically. This is what is happening to Virat.

[@FinalWordCricket]

Lol, ok Joe Rogan

[@ravi2820]

@@navalfa7291 really?? is that true😨

[@rprabir]

It’s a music to ear and mind

[@BharatThatIsIndia]

Harsha is always on the point. Kohali has played like all World is conspiring against him and his team. So when he was not batting as he expected, the mic incident happened. Also, Virat has done great in Test Cricket.

[@punjabigundaa]

There have been some moments when Virat completely lost it. 2017 vs Australia, 2020 in NZ and now in SA. The difference then was there was no BCCI chief but now Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman really don't want Indian captain behaving that way. For me the obvious choice in Bumrah in tests even if it meant resting him regularly in white ball cricket except tournaments.

[@nitlover8319]

@@peternagy-im4be I have hardly seen them moaning overseas. They always say that whatever the conditions it's same for both sides. Though I have seen teams touring subcontinent about wickets

[@AkshayWalia]

@@peternagy-im4be winning teams clearly are unliked😂 Not one country liked Ricky ponting's team but all of them respected them

[@nikunjdixit1175]

@@peternagy-im4be Don't invent stuff for the sake of it. India haven't moaned about playing conditions any where they have gone.

[@K_RRK]

@@peternagy-im4be Can you tell me any SENA country that didn't moan about the conditions in Subcontinent?

[@K_RRK]

@@peternagy-im4be Talking about the conditions is different from moaning. How can't they not speak when reporters keep on asking questions about the conditions?

[@sharathachaar8680]

I would really back Rahane for captain, he will get runs and even Kohli doesn't mind playing under him but gut feeling is telling Rishab would be a great person to lead. He communicates well with everyone , he has already faced a lot of criticism for his batting and keeping which is making him mature person and a permanent player in playing 11 in every match across format all over the world

[@rvideep]

Please no Rahane. We don’t want another dismal performance, it’s time to send him back to ranji trophy and work on his strokes. Just a man manager coach doesn’t help.

[@gentlekannada]

Harsha is like a scientist of cricket. Very sharp very far sighted unbiased. He must be in the special advisory comite to bcci

[@anantharengankannan778]

KL Rahul 7 to 8 tests ago is not even a certainty in the test team. He got his place because of injury to Mayank Agarwal. IMHO Rishabh Pant would be good choice.

[@thiswhoweare1949]

Gill actually

[@Arjitgupta18]

Virat Kohli always be my captain once a leader always a leader. King 👑

[@paarthagarwal7320]

Jadeja for captain, can already do everything and is the most important player to balance the team in all formats

[@dxnification]

I can see that as an option. He needs to be able to be selected on batting alone though. In overseas conditions, Ashwin is our best spinner + jadeja fitness for all series is an issue. I would say have Rahane or Rohit in for a couple of years and slowly transition to Pant as captain for the long term.

[@ishaan6426]

@@dxnification Bruh as if rohit remains fully fit. India is in a fucked up situation. The one who can do better job than anyone is rahane, But, he is playing shite for a while. Kl rahul no experience at all.

[@CakeorDeath420]

Ok, off the bat, let me say I've always respected Harsha's analysis or his ability to tell a story in the game of cricket. He has been one of the best. I, however, disagree with him when he says "This is the easiest time to be No1". I did not expect this from him and I dont agree with him at all. So I have a few counter to that... 1. What has Harsha ever contributed to to take anything to a No1 position? Anything? Book writing, commentary, analysis? If he has, he should know how much effort it takes to achieve that. Will he then say, writing, commentating or analyzing is easier today for whatever reason? 2. Can I say it is easier to be good at commentating today than the times past? I can say the likes of Benaud, Blofeld, Boycott, Greigg had it tough due to lesser technology to analyze the game, fewer statistics ready at hand, fewer replays and lower quality camera tech at hand. It is quite easy today to call isn't it? Excellent sound systems, anyone and their uncles can speak English, excellent stats, excellent camera work, fantastic analysis of pitch maps, bowling zones, batting control %ages and what not! Is. it. not. easier. to call. today is what I'd like to ask Harsha. 3. By comparing across generations, Harsha has committed this folly that many have in the past. I did not expect for some one as knowledgeable as Harsha to do the same blunder. There are so many factors that arise when you compare players/teams across generations. Rules have changed, bats are better, bowlers have improved, the analysis and videos available for team preparations has gone up at a staggering rate, the grounds and wickets are different, and so on. How can anyone compare players/teams by just numbers alone? Especially when Harsha himself was present at a book launch for a book called "Numbers do lie" by Akash Chopra which talks about passages of play that were more important than the numbers depicting it? Disappointing to hear this from Harsha. Anyone belittling another person's achievements by saying "it was easy" loses respect in my eye. He sounds bitter for some reason. The fact he kept mum about it till the time Virat resigned from captaincy shows either he had to get it off his chest or there are other reasons of vested interests. ESPNCricinfo "quietly" published 2 articles after Kohli's presser pre-SA tour, one by Pakistani scribe about Kohli's downfall and two, an article gushing over Ganguly's hay days. Very "convenient" for those 2 articles to surface in such a short period.

[@jz7722]

Harsha is proper commentator who can communicate in best possible polite way the bitter truth.

[@maxxter90]

Harsha's absolutely correct.. While the record is phenomenal, especially the overseas wins, let's face it, as Harsha said, most of the teams are in decline .. We didn't even beat a second rate South African side at full strength... and when the crunch time came, lost against NZ in the WTC Final... The two wins against AU were fantastic, but the first one was without Smith and Warner, second one it was clear AU were heading nowhere under Tim Paine and Langer and players had massive infighting issues, which is all coming out now in the open, with Langer not getting extension, even after winning T20 WC and Ashes... In short, We were a good side but let's not kid ourselves that We were like the AU and WI teams of the past decades.

[@nsgaurav3761]

@Siddharth Sriram I don't think you actually follow cricket. India didn't even play NZ in 2018. Also India won a match each in the 2018 Eng and SA series. They also won a match in the 2021 SA series. Get your facts straight first mate!

[@gauravsawardekar5056]

Would have won WTC final if had it been played in srilanka or Bangladesh. Was it fair choice venue for India???? New Zealand got the perfect venue that suited their skills, so the result was already in favour of NZ.

[@ajiskon100notout]

*FACT IS VIRAT IS MOST SUCCESSFUL INDIAN TEST CAPTAIN EVER WHILE ROHIT, A PLAYER WITH ONLY 1 OVERSEAS TEST TON*

[@jagdeepsingh-dm3fm]

King kohli will bounce back soon

[@Abhay_Trivedi]

Excellent Conversation!

[@idreeskanchwala]

WOW what a guest to discuss the topic

[@amatya.rakshasa]

Man.. I can’t stand Harsh’s Bhogle and people who think that “they should’ve beaten a transitioning SA side”. Like.. are you guys narcissists ?? Who do you think you are that you should be beating anyone easily ? And did you even see the test series ? It was a super fun and close series with amazing fights in each session and incredible performances from Jansen, Rabada, Ngidi , and Olivier. That’s a world class bowing line up that would’ve troubled even the Tendulkars and Dravids. Also , You’re shitting on the current team’s performances because apparently the wins these days don’t count for much because the teams are weak. Firstly, you can only beat the people you’re competing. An Olympics 100m gold after Usain Bolt retires is still an Olympics 100m golf. Secondly, India hadn’t won a test series in SENA counties since like the 1970s. Your so called great batsmen (Tendulkar , Dravid , Laxman etc) and great bowlers (Kumble , Bhajji , Zahir Srinarh etc ) and captain like Ganguly couldn’t achieve anything. It’s not easy to win abroad , particularly for Asian teams in SENA and SENA Teams in Asia. You gotta respect that and not have inane expectations like you think you can just show up and win.

[@FinalWordCricket]

This is the weirdest angriest interpretation of some pretty reasonable comments. Almost an achievement. Congratulations?

[@amatya.rakshasa]

@@FinalWordCricket hahahaah happy to amuse you 🙄. Ok let me try to say this without anger. Bhogle’s tone and words at around 7:01 about this being the easiest time in the world to be #1 in test cricket is really disappointing and undermines the test cricket achievements of Indian team and Kohli’s team in recent years. Any human that has achieved anything at an international level knows that the margins are super thin and these wins need to be savored. You gotta have more joy, more appreciation, and more respect for the team under Kohli. They have been producing super fun test matches and series abroad. If you mute the video and just watch Bhogle’s face, you’ll find no joy, no appreciation. Folks need to learn how to savor and enjoy little steps of progress in their and others journey instead of being dismissive of their own or other peoples achievements even if they don’t wind up completing their journey being Michael Jordan or Usain Bolt.

[@amatya.rakshasa]

@@FinalWordCricket Let's see if this helps. You're a female tennis player that won Wimbledon and Oz open but lost a competitive French Open and played badly and got knocked out of the US Open. Your boyfriend makes a face and then comments, "This is the easiest time ever to a world #1 in women's tennis and this French Open field was the weakest ever, Serena and Osaka weren't even playing".

[@hasanrazafaruqi6331]

Very well said.

[@DeepakSharma-xx8hu]

Keep up the good work guys . You will have millions subscribers soon and majority will be from Cricket Mad country India .

[@sudeshkaul6295]

Terrific analysis by Harsha Bhogle as usual

[@pidchedrr1796]

Love Harsha’s straight shooting style

[@usamatarar9926]

Kohli should be retained as test captain no matter what . atleast for next Championship final. Love from Pak and Aus

[@ro6191]

Team IND will never get a champion lvl trophy for a long run

[@SatishSharma-cx4oc]

Harsha or any other TV commentator do not have the balls to speak against BCCI, Virat may not be scoring centuries but still batting reasonably well, he resigned out of frustration, look at BCCI's behavior towards Virat

[@MahendraVermamps]

Wow... finally...Harsha with some courage.. obviously backed by BCCI. Good to see him talking sense and brute truth.

[@ajiskon100notout]

*FACT IS VIRAT IS MOST SUCCESSFUL INDIAN TEST CAPTAIN EVER WHILE ROHIT, A PLAYER WITH ONLY 1 OVERSEAS TEST TON*

[@MahendraVermamps]

@@ajiskon100notout 😂😂 What is Rohit doing here??

[@saminenivinayaknaidu3819]

Pujara and Rahane not only brought down the south Africa series but even Virat Captaincy

[@saravananb2184]

True

[@myklgab]

India will certainly miss Virat's captaincy...... His aggression, his approach to the game and the fitness can't be matched by any other captain. I strongly believe and I don't fear in saying that Virat Kholi is the no.1 and the best Indian captain and the one that changed Indian cricket especially playing abroad

[@sukrantbhat7691]

Just make Bumrah the captain, he genuinely looks like smart player and had got age on his side aswell. If Pat Cummins could do it, so can Jasprit Bumrah

[@FinalWordCricket]

Yes!

[@Onyourface257]

Didn’t age well.

[@DEV-pd2uu]

The GOAT of cricket analyst, Bhogle bhai🙏🙏

[@AkshayWalia]

The whole podcast just didn't feel like a complete representation of what happened and how it unfolded. While I'm a regular viewer and greatly appreciate your opinions, in this case I beg to disagree. There's no one who can replace virat in the current test structure as a captain. Always when ganguly is at the helm of something, it becomes an ego tussle. BCCI is famously known for wronging players and captains. Not a single mention of him.

[@damau5687]

Whose fault do u think it is that we don't have any captaincy material groomed atm? Which players have had the confidence of being in the 11 everytime, in the last 5 years? The chopping & changing, horses for courses did great for Kohli-Shastri in the short term but this is where it has led this team to, in the long run. This is a crisis that was waiting to happen whenever Kohli decided on his future. I'd say the sooner the better. Even better times for Indian cricket will follow after this road bump, imo.

[@AkshayWalia]

@@damau5687 I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm saying the podcast was incomplete.

[@MrAsd012]

@@AkshayWalia Harsha clearly said , he cannot comment on how events transpired coz he wasnt part of/ privy to conversations between Kohli & BCCI. Commenting on this would just be pure gossip cause non of us actually know what happened exactly. Its just those who support Ganguly find faults with Kohli and Kohli fans blame it on Bcci and ego tussel. Harsha showed intellectual accumen by not involving in pure speculative gossip

[@AkshayWalia]

@MrAsd012 harsha also clearly said Kohli seems to be different man. More in love with family than cricket from what he was 3-4 years back. Well he should not be making comments based on opinions then as per your logic. Maybe being a family person may give his cricket an extra edge which he didn't have. That might be another opinion. I've been listening to harsha for >20 years no very happily. This is clearly half a story he's telling so to call it out seems fair.

[@MrAsd012]

@@AkshayWalia he didnt say kohli loves his family more than cricket. He said , kohli is in different phase of life and clearly thats not speculative And nowhere was it implied that his family is reason for his performance. Have a better listen mate

[@gsprasanna6382]

Fantastic discussion ! Very objective!

[@supriyajoshi1347]

Great content guys!!!!

[@ameetkk]

I absolutely adore Harsha for his cricket knowledge, unbiassed opinions which he articulates very well and his reading of the game. I agree with his assessment 99% of the time. However, him saying "this is the easiest time to be # 1 in Test Cricket because England and Australia are at a low and Kohli didn't win in SA and NZ is just ridiculous. Kohli and India can only play the team they are put against...they don't chose the opposition, the opposition players or the conditions. They control what they can control. So to say that is diminishing the amazing cricket the Indian team has played under Kohli. Remember, he inherited a good team from MSD, but that was languishing at #7. He took it to #1. What else can you ask a guy to do. Yes, there are certain things I don't like or agree with what Kohli did, but the guy delivered results, developed the best fast bowling unit India has ever seen and won tests in SENA. Let's be realistic in our expectations. Don't compare him to a Tendulkar (I grew up watching him and adored him. but like Gavaskar, he played for himself and his records - most times if not all the time) and Dravid (who I believe is truly the best Indian batsman even above Tendulkar). It feels like the outside world is in awe of Kohli and likes him more than many Indians (read Manjrekars, Gavaskars, Gambhirs) who couldn't achieve an iota of what he did. This guy has taken Indian Cricket to new heights which sadly I don;t think will be seen again

[@deepakgupta-ng2bb]

Wtf... No trophies under him... Won Australia thats it in 2018... Thats it.... Lost newzealand Lost twice in SA Lost once in england 2-1 up in england. We didnt achieve that much.... Lost all ICC trophies under him.. Worst middle order in odi, test and t20s ever after 2000s

[@deepakgupta-ng2bb]

Gambhir was the highest scorer in both final which we won in 2007 and 2011.... He was the man of the series when u won in nZ in 2009. He won two IPL as captain.

[@amitm2692]

Tendulkar played for himself?? That's the most non sensical thing to say..... Tendulkar was literally a one man team across the 90's & carried the side almost on his own ....what do you expect him to do?? ..not score runs....?? & These runs were adding to the team score or was he shoving it up his arse.....think abt what you post .......if we had half a decent team in the 90's who matched even 20% of Tendulka's ability & skill , we would hv won a lot more matches than we did.....don't even compare kholi to Tendulkar..... If Tendulkar had half the team that Kohli had, we would hv been an unbeatable side.... that's how legendary Sachin was..... Kohli ain't shit in front of him.....

[@iceman4020]

@@deepakgupta-ng2bb Gautam Gambhir fans are the biggest chutiyas in the world. Offense intended.

[@jeddavi6207]

Well said bro… time is a great leveler… History will be the better judge for king 👑. Sometimes we get more than we deserve and we realize once we loose. Let’s c going forward we from #1 in test to #???.

[@sritg]

One wrong question...he is the one who made Indian cricket

[@pvx1866]

This is the first time that I dont think harsha bhogle makes sense. You basically tool away all the credit of kohlis test captaincy career by saying 'this is the easiest time to be number 1, but we dint SA, NZ and ENG at their home.' You cannot compare teams from different eras (you've said it yourself in past) and yet you say this. Just because you are number 1 doest mean all other teams are weak. That is paradoxical. By the logic that SA is missing greats like ABD, Faf, South etc, you should also consider india is missing MSD, yuvraj, sachin sehwag. Btw ABD was captain when India lost against them in 2018, Mr statistician. And if you think England were at their lowest in test cricket at home in 2018, then I am slightly inclined to think ganguly has now infiltrated tr commentary box too.

[@gxsaurabh4660]

So he makes statement against Virat and Now he doesn't makes sense good analysis 😂😂👏👏 Yes we don't have MSD Sachin sehwag but we have pant virat Rohit as their replacements. Others teams didn't found replacements. Where are the replacements of smith abd amla Kallis for SA? Sangakara, murali etc etc for SL? Other teams didn't found proper replacements but India did that's why this was the easiest time to be number 1 for India. He's absolutely spot on whether you agree or not.

[@pvx1866]

@@gxsaurabh4660 so by your logic, Australia of 2000s had the easiest time to be number 1 because... 1) india never had a great fast bowling line up 2) Pakistan dint have a decent captain since imran khan 3) SA were chokers Just because a team is number 1 doesn't mean other teams are weak! That's a very immature way to take away someones credit! We lost the wordk cup 2015 and t20 WC 2016 under MSD, that done. But wasn't it the easiest time to win?

[@ajiskon100notout]

*FACT IS VIRAT IS MOST SUCCESSFUL INDIAN TEST CAPTAIN EVER WHILE ROHIT, A PLAYER WITH ONLY 1 OVERSEAS TEST TON*

[@manikraokulkarni6301]

He is missing Chinnaswamy stadium (IPL Matches in Bangalore) for match practice.

[@srikantdelhi]

I think Harsha misses to see the connection Jeff is making, that of aura slipping once the run dries, and then interconnected events unfolding. That certainly has to be the case in my opinion, as the relationships in a team (and their larger dynamic with the cricket-loving masses) are built by the common bond of performance. When the glue of performance supporting the underlying bond wears and ages, the relationships in that particular dynamic is bound to alter. Other things certainly may have contributed, as cricket is a tool for getting several things done in India, and one single individual as captain can not correspond forever with the complex dynamic of cricket, power and wealth in India. Where such interests are involved, things do not always appear as they truly are.

[@dibyamayank]

Any captain has to lead by example. The fact that Kohli wasn’t himself performing any failure was bound to raise murmur on his personal performance. He could have helped his cause by acknowledging his failures and work on it instead of being confrontational all the time. This wasn’t going to last long with this attitude

[@srikanthsv79]

That attitude is what made him successful, a guy with 0 talent like Kohli came this far & became best due to that attitude alone

[@anotheraccount9917]

I think he is more of a man in love them a cricketer. Absolutely!! I might add that he is more of a business person now

[@calisthenicsindia8498]

Harsha speaking some facts exactly what I'm arguing with my friends

[@tulyank__1333]

17:31 something i would rewatch time to time.

[@alijuddy5362]

I still feel India would have won the Johannesburg test under Kohli if he had played! That would have given us the series 2-1 since we lost the third test. It's a pity that he left the captaincy in a losing cause. I wouldn't be surprised if he announces his retirement from all forms of cricket next year but of course on his terms!

[@deepakj9783]

Kholi's retirement from all formats is on cards.. Because of the way he has been treated..Lets see how our hero Rohit reacts in bringing team up under the umbrella of Gangully..

[@naveennacio726]

Good job both👌

[@dhawal7476]

Harsha bhogle at The Final Word -- I wait for these occurrences every year! PS. The ending was pure GOLD. 😂

[@FinalWordCricket]

Thanks Dhawal :)

[@gyandeeppatnaik9128]

I could listen to Harsha all day long. Thank you so much guys for the interview!

[@sunilg4094]

Harsha Bhogle should give some coaching to Gavaskar on how to not be biased. He is nutral, rational and has a great observation.

[@RayBhan_u]

In Simple English, Virat has just slapped BCCI for its irresponsible approach in dealing with the situation. I foresee a downfall of indian cricket due to a lack of good captain and lack of that aggressive body language.The SA series is an proper example of 60 year old players on the field not 25 year old players. God bless Indian cricket. Next 3 years will be tough

[@YM-rp7bu]

And he himself is responsible for that by not allowing and grooming appropriate talent which could’ve taken over captaincy. He’s left us with kl rahul, who has done nothing for Indian cricket so far and only sucked up to Kohli. So the downfall is thanks to Kohli and shastri. *mic drop*

[@siddharthadas636]

In Simple English, if Viral intended to slap BCCI by giving up captaincy, as you have said, then it is too much selfishness and ego on Virat's part. He credited himself more than Indian Cricket then. It's like holding the gun at head and telling everyone to respect him. I am no fan of such players.

[@YM-rp7bu]

@@siddharthadas636 absolutely. This isn’t someone’s family team boss. This is the Indian national cricket team. No one, NO ONE is higher than the game or the nation.

[@siddharthtripathy3964]

I just hope bcci doesn't shut Harsha's mouth, he speaks with conviction about who's who just like that.

[@chaitanyakrishnakaranam]

IPL and international cricket are 2 different things @harsha come one wake up !!

[@TejasveePrasad24]

I'm afraid Harsha, as well articulated as he always is, speaks with a bit of a bias against Kohli. Kohli's batting, while not at the peak as it once was, was still a lot better than many previous Indian captains. As a leader of the Indian Test team, he definitely still had a lot to offer. Pretty sure it was the hostile conditions with the BCCI leadership that is at the root cause of this. This uncertainty was definitely diversifiable, if both alphas had communicated better.

[@saravananb2184]

If Virat was really good at captaincy he should have won at-least 1 IPL. Many potholes in his approach (Constant chopping of players, etc., ). Virat Kohli is a overrated captain but his enthusiasm is admirable, great batter. I don’t think Harsha was biased. He is telling his opinion.

[@ajiskon100notout]

@@saravananb2184 *FACT IS VIRAT IS MOST SUCCESSFUL INDIAN TEST CAPT EVER WHILE ROHIT IS A PLAYER WITH ONLY 1 OVERSEAS TEST TON. IPL STATS ARE NOT EVEN INCLUDED IN INTERNATIONAL CRICKET*

[@CakeorDeath420]

@@saravananb2184 Opinions can be biased. What are you talking about? T20 is vile format that takes many things to go right for you to win. Unlike Tests where you can regroup and come up again. T20 is far too volatile and no matter what you do on that given day, if things dont go as per plan, you wont have the results. Nothing anyone can do.

[@rajeshwarib1394]

@@ajiskon100notout s but 1s abilities to captain a team in intl is based on d amt of success achieved in ipl types of leagues especially in white ball cricket coz captaining a young bunch of lads is more easier than captaining intl stars. Virat isn't a good captain in white ball

[@bood35]

Harsha Bhogle needs to put his views aside. His personal remarks on Kohli and his family are just too overboard. Virat Kohli get in the face and that's how I want the Indian captain to be. Not like Kumble, Dravid Tendulkar ( with due respect to them). We know our cricket well and listening to Harsha over the years controversy less is so obvious that he plays only diplomatic never factual. Nitpicking on Kohli's captaincy, his superb fitness ethics.... well thats enough of him.

[@UtsavTiwary]

You deserve a proper mic Harsha :)

[@pallabidutta3422]

Well said his own batting performance is partly responsible. Also the last few test series his attitude went. Virat must realise that to lead a cricket team you may not have. Batting performance for a few test but not for years. He has changed his middle order, yes he lead india to the test championship but could never deliver the final punch . Also when you fail in your performance then you cannot other to contribute to all the time. The letter to bcci in England by some players need to be out. What did they write, bcci did not let it flame on longer but Virat could have avoided that he should have thought only of the team and not who the coach is. Rumours that he was adamant to have Kumble out if true has happened to him this time

[@ajiskon100notout]

*FACT IS VIRAT IS MOST SUCCESSFUL INDIAN TEST CAPTAIN EVER WHILE ROHIT, A PLAYER WITH ONLY 1 OVERSEAS TEST TON*

[@KrishnaSingh25899]

Adam & Harsha 😊

[@RayBhan_u]

i back Ashwin as captain of Indian Test cricket. and Rohit for White ball cricket for both World cups..

[@OmkarChavan04]

We love this channel

[@FinalWordCricket]

Thanks Omkar

[@AnOrangeOrange1000]

India doesn't need Centuries or Five Wicket Hauls from its Players. India needs more & more ICC Trophies, just like Australia. There's no point in reaching the Finals if, you can't win them. I think, in India, we value Players more than the Team itself. It's high time that, Indian Cricket Fans change it for once & for all. It's time to drop our Favouritism. It's time to change our demands. It's time to change our priorities. Otherwise, India would always face such crises again & again.

[@badrinathlakshminarayanan5165]

Unpopular opinion : harsha s take on the virat captaincy tenure seemed bitter. Harsha bhogle said after the BGT win of 2018 that this is the best he has seen in his life by india in test cricket and changes tune comparing this team with the aussie teams of the past. Players can only play the era they are a part of. And the manner in which like he seem to expect india not winning every overseas tour they have played seemed to be unfair. For eg a country like South africa where india had won a grand 4 tests in their entire history 2 of them were under virat. A captain should always be compared with what his predecessors have done and what he has and in that front if you look at the data virat has won more games away than an of his previous captains and has lost only 2 games at home during his entire tenure and hasn't lost a series. Again something which his predecessors can't claim of. Clearly the take of harsha looks like it's based on perception rather than facts.

[@CakeorDeath420]

You've said it well. I agree. Harsha just went overly critical and comparing across generations is a folly which even he ended up committing. That was disappointing. Virat has a great record, few want to accept that for their own weird/vested reasons.

[@atharvachikodikar2405]

Why do I think that ganguly is fine but jay shah is the real problem here.. Anyways that's the past for now how about Some like Shreyas Iyer for the white ball and pant for red ball as future captains? And Virat and Rohit will be their guiding partner much like what dhoni was to virat and what waugh was to pointing or pointing to Clarke

[@AmarjeetSingh-mt3ri]

Seriously shreyas as white ball captain is easily a joke a player who doesn't have the ability to play short ball even on 120 km/h there are word in world cricket bowl short ball & shreyas will pee in his pant & even he will find it difficult to get his place

[@osamabinladen143]

Harsha doesn't even speak 50% of this truth when he comes on cricbuzz.

[@livercoolutd]

The only reason there is a discussion about India's future Test captain is Rohit's fitness. I think given his fitness issues, India should look at someone else. Ashwin is an interesting choice but is not a starter in every away Test match. Buy Bumrah is an even better choice than Ashwin and Rohit. Because Bumrah has the skills to play anywhere as well as a shrewd mind, as Harsha said. As a fast bowler, Bumrah can sometimes have injury concerns, but for my money, he is the right guy. Imagine Bumrah leading India and Cummins Australia in BGT. Wow, I cannot wait for that contest.

[@nitlover8319]

And Rohit's age at 35 and also the fact that he has just started delivering in test matches.

[@Khader1093]

Captaincy is all about man management and the last thing I want to do is having my premiere quick to be responsible for others form. Rohit is most likely to get the arm band and I hope pant gets the VC . Since he will be India's Wk for the next decade.

[@FinalWordCricket]

Cummins leading Australia, Bumrah leading India, Rabada leading South Africa, Boult leading New Zealand. Could be a whole generation of captain quicks.

[@karthickr5195]

Ashwin is one potential and will wait to see his prespective

[@anoopmohta1251]

He passed with flying colors in CLASS TEST, but when it came to EXAMS, he flopped / tanked. Win against AUSTRALIA, particularly in Australia was a real success / noteworthy. When they lost to England at home, immediately pitches were ordered to be prepared that suits us. The star of the series Axar is no where to be seen. Ashwin has 9 Man of Series award and you belittle him and preferred Jadeja, who now has knee (Excess load) issues and contemplating quitting TEST cricket to prolong his cricketing career, just to satisfy your EGO Further, in 7 years of his captaincy, he has not groomed any one as his / likely successor or for that matter a stable team. Always ME ME ME.. "It’s My Way or High Way" policy. KARMA

[@rhitambhargoswami8696]

Selecting Jadeja over Ashwin in ENG and SENA countries was the ri8 decision. As we have seen in RSA, conditions don't support Ashwin. Not to mention, Jadeja is a way better batter at no. 7. In white ball cricket, Jadeja is hands down the better player.

[@ajayajesh6941]

@@rhitambhargoswami8696 yeah these fool still thinks Ashwin in those conditions is better than jadeja even knowing what jadeja can do .

[@amitm2692]

@@ajayajesh6941 What's been jadeja's impact in overseas conditions?? Kindly elaborate plz...cos I don't recall a single test series or a match for that matter where he's made any impact... he at best is a container of runs or to give a brk to fast bowlers ....his batting is decent in tests at best....not a single match winning or saving knock in overseas conditions nor any fifers or any match turning spell....?

[@dearmrkiran]

@@amitm2692 the best jadeja could do as an overseas spinner is to quicken the over rate up a bit 😂

[@annamalaian0711]

lol. Look at Shami/Ishant under MS and Virat.

[@raghavanrajesh250]

Ash as captain with bumrah as his deputy ..we never had this combo in our history..mostly a batsman captain..don't see that captaincy spark in KL Rahul or Rishab pant..better to groom bumrah as future captain .. with Rohit/ Ash as captains for the next 2 yrs

[@VijayThakurMD]

Ash isn't even regular, bumrah should be our captain as he is our best player

[@raghavanrajesh250]

@@VijayThakurMD ash will only be a transition skipper..even wen Anil was given captaincy he was on similar lines