Virat Kohli Will Have More “Freedom” After Losing White-Ball Captaincy, Says New Zealand Star

New Zealand pacer Tim Southee has been playing international cricket for more than a decade. He comes in with an experience of playing all formats for his country and different franchises all around the world. Even in the Indian Premier League (IPL), he played a couple of years under the likes of former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli. With India’s white-ball captaincy being handed over to Rohit Sharma recently, Southee weighed in on the role that Kohli might play and his contribution as a player.

According to the New Zealand fast bowler, the change in leadership hierarchy could prove to be a blessing in disguise for Kohli as the latter could now “channel” his energy more on his batting and fielding. Southee agreed that captaining a side like India or even an IPL franchise like RCB over a long period of time could take a toll on the performances of an individual.

“There’s pressure that comes with captaining a side like India and also the IPL franchises. It will be interesting to see as he has done it for a period of time now. For a fan or someone who enjoys Virat Kohli bat, it will be quite interesting to see how he goes about his business, (with) the freedom that he has now to put all the energy that he was putting into captaincy to now channel that into his batting and fielding,” Southee said while talking in an exclusive interview with Hindustan Times.

Southee also added that Kohli could still be seen in “some form of leadership” with the amount of experience in his bag.

“I am sure he will be contributing in some form of leadership throughout the rest of his playing days,” he added.

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Apart from the recent captaincy changes in Team India, Southee reflected on his days with Kohli at RCB and how that time helped him get to know the Indian batter as a person.

“He is very passionate about the game we play and he loves the game. He brings the energy for the side. Just getting to know him away from cricket, what an amazing guy he is… It was an amazing experience to have the two years at RCB and share the changing room with him. To share the experience of how he goes about his business and also, how he is as a person,” he said.