Graeme Smith does not feel Virat Kohli will be Indian captain for long

Indian captain Virat Kohli has come under a lot of pressure after India’s poor showing in South Africa.

After being extremely confident ahead of the big tour, India flattered to deceive in South Africa, as the Proteas were better than India in all departments.

Kohli was particulary unhappy with his team, after they lost the first two test matches. The Indian skipper let his emotions get the better of him in the post match press conference, as he picked a fight with a reporter who questioned India’s poor performances outside the sub-continent.

ALSO READ : Suresh Raina talks about the influence of CSK’s foreign stars!

Former South African skipper, Graeme Smith does not feel Kohli is the long term answer to India, as he believed that his temperament may get the better of him from time to time.

“I don’t know, when I look at him, if he is a long-term captaincy option for India,” Smith said at a function hosted by SuperSport.

“When I look at Virat, I think he needs someone in the support staff who can constructively challenge him and help him grow.

“I think if he had a really constructive person in his environment, who could talk to him, make him think, maybe even challenge him with some different ideas, in a constructive way, not an angry or aggressive way, but make him think, open his eyes to other possibilities, that would make him a really good leader.”

“He loves that confrontation, that intensity brings the best out of him,” Smith said. “Sometimes as a leader you’ve got to consider how you impact the others in the environment. That’s an area of his leadership that he needs to grow.

“We all know how powerful Virat Kohli is in world cricket, in Indian cricket. For him, he’s built this aura and for him maybe (he needs) to find a level where he can connect with all his players, to get to a level where can get the Indian team to be as successful as he is. That’s something that he, when I watch him, is grappling with.

“Sometimes you talk to AB de Villiers, he gets down and reverse sweeps, he makes it look so easy. And sometimes you need to remind AB that other guys don’t see it that way.

“As a leader you need to understand the whole environment, talk to the players to try to get the best out of the environment.”