Star India batsman Virat Kohli announced on Thursday that he will give up India’s T20 captaincy after the World Cup that starts next month.
“I feel I need to give myself space to be fully ready to lead the Indian team in Test and ODI cricket,” Kohli said on Twitter.
For some time, there has been speculation about Kohli’s future as white-ball captain especially given Rohit Sharma’s brilliant track record of winning five IPL titles for Mumbai Indians.
“Understanding workload is a very important thing and considering my immense workload over the last 8-9 years playing all three formats and captaining regularly for last five to six years, I feel I need to give myself space to be fully ready to lead Indian team in Test and ODI cricket,” Kohli said in a statement on his Twitter page.
The decision, Kohli said, was taken after consulting head coach Ravi Shastri, his heir apparent Rohit, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah.
The T20 World Cup starts on October 17.
Here are some reactions to the decision:
🇮🇳 ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Ds7okjhj9J
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) September 16, 2021
Thanks @imVKohli for your contribution as the #TeamIndia captain. As a young talent the focus and determination you have showed as the captain is unmatched. The most impressive aspect was the way of maintaining balance between captaincy and individual performance.
— Jay Shah (@JayShah) September 16, 2021
Virat Kohli’s contribution to the Indian T20 cricket team as captain was immense. It can never be forgotten. This is his personal decision and we respect it. @imVkohli @BCCI https://t.co/JtGIcJBkom
— Rajeev Shukla (@ShuklaRajiv) September 16, 2021
Most successful T20I captains
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) September 16, 2021
(min 40 mts)
Win% - Captain (Mts-Won-Lost-Nr)
80.77 - Asghar Afghan (52-42-10-0)
64.44 - Virat Kohli (45-29-14-2)
62.50 - Faf du Plessis (40-25-15-0)
60.94 - Eoin Morgan (64-39-24-1)
59.57 - Darren Sammy (47-28-17-2)
58.33 - MS Dhoni (72-42-28-2)
India under Virat Kohli in the last 10 T20I series:
— CricTracker (@Cricketracker) September 16, 2021
3-2 (won v ENG)✅
2-1 (won v AUS)✅
5-0 (won v NZ)✅
2-0 (won v SL)✅
2 -1 (won v WI)✅
1-1 (drawn v SA)🤝
2-0 (won v WI)✅
2-0 (lost v AUS)❌
1-1 (drawn v AUS)🤝
2-1 (won v ENG)✅#ViratKohli #CricketTwitter
just to give perspective on Kohli announcing will step down from T20 captaincy post World Cup, Sunil Gavaskar back in 1985 also announced before the World Championship of Cricket in Australia he would quit captaincy after tournament. India went onto win it
— Gulu Ezekiel (@gulu1959) September 16, 2021
Big news coming in from the indian camp ! Knew it would happen but not so soon! #viratkholi
— Jatin Paranjape (@jats72) September 16, 2021
Good step by @imVkohli giving up T20 captaincy but when he does so he should also let his successor take charge in 50-over cricket, if not all formats?#ViratKohli #cricket
— Anand Vasu (@anandvasu) September 16, 2021
Perfect timing from Kohli. This issue is closed and he has put a full stop to it in the best interests of the team. Time to talk only about cricket.
— Venkata Krishna B (@venkatatweets) September 16, 2021
Having got so used to him dominating the screen & the narrative as captain, it’ll be strange to see Virat Kohli on the field & not leading India in any format. But it felt the same with MS Dhoni in early 2017 when he stepped down & we did get used to him as a “player” for 2 years
— Bharat Sundaresan (@beastieboy07) September 16, 2021
Under Virat Kohli's leadership, India won T20i series in South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia. He's the only Asian skipper to win T20i series in SENA countries. He also has winning percentage of more than 65.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) September 16, 2021
Virat Kohli as captain in T20I:
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) September 16, 2021
Matches - 45
Wins - 27
Lost - 14
Win % - 65.11
While having such a great record, it takes lots of heart to step down as the captain at the age of 32. All the best in ODI and Test format as a captain.
Dhoni on Split Captaincy (2017)
— MSDian™ (@ItzThanesh) September 16, 2021
"I don't believe in split captaincy. For the team there has to be only one leader. Split captaincy doesn't work in India, I wanted Virat to ease into the job. There is no wrong decision in it"#MSDhoni | @MSDhoni | @ImVkohli
No more rumours, no more drama now.
— Clive (@_vanillawallah) September 16, 2021
We know the team, we know the captain.
We back our boys at the T20 World Cup to the very end.
Let's go Team India.
Superb decision... Backend of career, Virat needs to grow his legend as the best batsman across formats even further. 👏👏 https://t.co/2mypG1SsLJ
— Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) September 16, 2021