To get rid of Kohli as captain would be a crime against cricket: Swann

Former England spinner Graeme Swann reckons the calls for Virat Kohli to be removed as India's captain after the loss in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand is not justified and it would be a crime against cricket if that were to happen.

Kohli-led India suffered an eight-wicket loss in the final in Southampton after a batting collapse let New Zealand back in the game. The Blackcaps won their first-ever ICC trophy since 2000. "Virat Kohli is an absolute champion and a superstar. He has added steel to the Indian team. You only have to see his passion whenever a wicket goes. (Look at) His face when there is a misfield. He is 100 percent committed to the job," Swann told SportsKeeda.

"To get rid of Virat Kohli at the moment, when you have such a good captain, would be an absolute crime against cricket. I don't think they should look elsewhere. India lost that game because they were underprepared and under-cooked going into that Test match," he added.

The former off-spinner added that India were under-prepared going into the WTC final and the intra-squad matches were never going to be good enough. New Zealand on the other hand, played a couple of Tests against hosts England ahead of the big final.

"India just had net practice in Southampton. Nothing beats preparing for a Test match like actual Test match play. So New Zealand had everything in their favour when it came to who was going to win that game. That showed during the five days as India looked slightly rusty especially some of the batsmen," Swann, who has picked up 255 wickets from 60 Tests for England added.