“I feel I need to give myself space to be fully ready to lead the Indian Team in Test and ODI Cricket.”
Virat Kohli has announced he will step down as India’s T20 captain after the conclusion of the upcoming T20 World Cup. He wants to continue as Test and ODI captain, however.
Kohli announced his decision on Twitter, saying he made it with his workload in mind as a three-format player, and that he has already spoken about it with BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, secretary Jay Shah, and the selectors. He said he arrived at his decision after “a lot of contemplation and discussions with my close people”, including India head coach Ravi Shastri and the white-ball vice-captain Rohit Sharma, who has already led India in 19 T20Is when Kohli has been rested.
Though a formal announcement from the BCCI is awaited, Rohit is the likely frontrunner to take over from Kohli.
“Understanding workload is a very important thing and considering my immense workload over the last 8-9 years playing all 3 formats and captaining regularly for last 5-6 years, I feel I need to give myself space to be fully ready to lead the Indian team in Test and ODI Cricket,” Kohli said. “I have given everything to the Team during my time as T20 Captain and I will continue to do so for the T20 Team as a batsman moving forward.”
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) September 16, 2021
The development comes exactly eight days after Kohli sat with the selectors to finalise the India squad for the T20 World Cup, which will be played in the UAE in October-November.
“Of course, arriving at this decision took a lot of time,” Kohli said. “After a lot of contemplation and discussions with my close people, Ravi bhai and also Rohit, who have been an essential part of the leadership group, I’ve decided to step down as the T20 Captain after this T20 World Cup in Dubai in October.”
More to follow…