In the most shocking news of the day, Virat Kohli has stepped down from India’s test captaincy. His decision comes a day after India’s loss in the test series against South Africa but netizens do not think it had anything to do with Virat Kohli’s decision whatsoever. The deep rooted cause, instead, lies in Kohli’s recent differences with the BCCI.
Virat Kohli stepped down from India’s T20 captaincy after the 2021 T20 World Cup as he wanted to focus more on his batting and the other two formats, namely ODI and Test. He also gave away the captaincy of IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore for the very same reason. However, He was removed from ODI captaincy about a month ago by BCCI, reportedly without any prior notice and after a series of heated exchanges between the two sides in Press conferences, the situation just worsened. Many are of the opinion that it was the main reason as to why Virat Kohli has now given up his Test captaincy too.
Virat Kohli announced his decision through his social media pages just like he did in case of the T20 captaincy.
He wrote in his statement, “It’s been 7 years of hard work, toil and relentless perseverance everyday to take the team in the right direction. I’ve done the job with absolute honesty and left nothing out there. Everything has to come to a halt at some stage and for me as Test Captain of India, it’s now. There have been many ups and also some downs along the journey, but never has there been a lack of effort or lack of belief.”
“I have always believed in giving my 120 percent in everything I do, and if I can’t do that, I know it’s not the right thing to do. I have absolute clarity in my heart and I cannot be dishonest to my team. I want to thank the BCCI for giving me the opportunity to lead my country for such a long period of time and more importantly to all the teammates who bought into the vision I had for the team from day one and never gave up in any situation.”
“You guys have made this journey so memorable and beautiful. To Ravi Bhai and the support group who were the engine behind this vehicle that moved us upwards in Test Cricket consistently, you all have played a massive role in bringing this vision to life. Lastly, a big thank vou to MS Dhoni who believed in me as a Captain and found me to be an able individual who could take Indian Cricket forward.”
But why did Virat Kohli take this abrupt decision? Well Virat Kohli has tried to say in the post that it his decision entirely and ‘it’s about time’ that he gave up the captaincy. But many are of the opinion that the immense pressure from BCCI and his differences between them is what forced Virat to step down.