"Foolish" to remove Kohli as captain, says Shoaib Akhtar

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar feels that it will be "foolish" to remove Virat Kohli from captaincy at this juncture, especially after Indian cricket establishment has invested on him massively.

"I think Virat Kohli shouldn't be removed as the captain because a lot has been invested on him. He has been the captain for the last three-four years. What he needs is a better coach, better selection committee and he can be made better," Akhtar was quoted as saying on his YouTube channel.

After India's disappointing exit in the semi-final of the World Cup, there were suggestions that split captaincy is the need of the hour, wherein Kohli should continue to lead in Test cricket and Rohit Sharma be appointed as the leader in limited-overs formats.

But Akhtar begs to differ.

"I have no doubts that Rohit is a good captain and he has done a good job in IPL but I think an investment has been made and that investment can be made better with a slight tweak. Virat Kohli is a sensible choice to carry on. I think it will be foolish to remove Kohli from captaincy," the former speedster said.

"There is a talk going on in India that the team is divided into into groups because of the reported rift between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. I guess Rohit wants to become the captain and Virat is coming in his way but I don't think these rumours are true."