'Remember Dhoni saying clearly that...': Karthik reacts to Kohli's call, says 'he's one of India's top captains in Test'

Karthik did play under Kohli, during the 2018 Test tour of England, which remains his last appearance in the format.

Senior Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik on Monday hailed Virat Kohli as one of India's greatest skippers in Test cricket, before recalling former captain MS Dhoni's words on reacting to the 33-year-old's sudden decision to step away from Test captaincy.

Virat Kohli; Dinesh Karthik with MS Dhoni

A day after India lost their Test series in South Africa by 2-1, Kohli had taken to Twitter to make the big announcement that left the entire cricket fraternity shocked. Back in November end of 2021, Kohli was removed from ODI captaincy, a month after he relinquished his position as T20I leader.

Reacting to Kohli's call, Karthik recalled that Dhoni had once told him that having split-captaincy in India is very hard, although the veteran cricketer did not find it fair on his behalf to place his opinion on the decision made by Kohli.

"I remember MS Dhoni saying very clearly that India as a cricketing nation is very hard to have split captaincy. It is unfair for me to answer this question because only Virat knows why he took that decision to step down as captain, and I am sure he has a good reason behind it," Karthik told ANI.

"He has led India so well and taken the Test team to a very strong place. As a person who has been part of the team and has played under him, I know the amount of effort he puts in every time he goes out on the field.

"He gives it everything he has. It has been a great joy for me to have been part of that journey. He has been one of the top captains for India in Test. I hope when he turns back, he looks at all the pleasant memories and the good memories and he has a good time thinking about the success he has had as the captain," said Karthik.