INDIA: Indian captain Virat Kohli announced that he would step down as India’s T20I captain after the T20 World Cup. The T20 World Cup is scheduled to commence on October 17 in the United Arab Emirates. Kohli chose a social media platform to make the announcement, paving the way for split captaincy in Indian cricket. Kohli’s statement mentioned Rohit Sharma as “an essential part of the leadership group”.
“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 wrote in his Instagram post.
32-year-old Kohli hasn’t been at his peak as a batsman in Tests lately. For close to two years now, Kohli hasn’t scored a long-form century and made 563 runs at 26.80 in 12 Tests during this period.
Talking about his decision he said, “Of course, arriving at this decision took a lot of time. After a lot of contemplation and discussions with my close people, Ravi Bhai (Shastri) and also Rohit, who has 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,” Kohli said.
As a T20I captain, Kohli had a successful stint. In January 2017, he took over the limited-overs reins from MS Dhoni and led India to T20I series wins against top nations. Unfortunately, his failure to win an ICC event has been putting pressure on him.
India lost to Pakistan in the final of the 2017 Champions Trophy followed by the semifinal heartbreak against New Zealand at the 2019 (50-over) World Cup.
Kohli’s failure to lead Royal Challengers Bangalore to the Indian Premier League (IPL) title was held against him. Meanwhile, Rohit set a T20 captaincy benchmark through five title-winning campaigns for Mumbai Indians.
Kohli’s decision ahead of the T20 World Cup will allow him to play without the additional weight of expectations.
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The BCCI’s concern at India’s failures at ICC events was reflected in Dhoni’s appointment as the team mentor for the T20 World Cup. The decision was taken with an eye on the former captain’s proven pedigree of winning global tournaments.
“We have a clear roadmap for Team India. Considering the workloads and ensuring that we have a smooth transition, Mr. Virat Kohli has decided to step down as T20I Captain after the upcoming World Cup. I have been in discussions with Virat and the leadership team for the last six months and the decision has been thought through. Virat will continue to contribute as a player and as a senior member of the side in shaping the future course of Indian cricket,” Jay Shah said via a press release.
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