After seven years of many new highs in Indian test cricket, Virat Kohli has stepped down as the captain of the team. The now former captain took this decison after a disappointing 2-1 series loss away against South Africa. The Indian team won the first test comfortably but South Africa turned it around in the next two tests.
Kohli has posted a statement on his various social media handles, where in he states, “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,”
He adds, “Every thing has to come to a halt at some stage and for me as Test Captain of India, it’s now,”. He continues by saying that although there has been many highs and few lows, there has never been a lack of effort or belief and he gave 120% in everything he did and if he can’t, it will be wrong and dishonest to the team.
He thanked the BCCI and teammates, saying that he is grateful for his opportunities. He also thanked former coach Ravi Shastri and the support staff for the massive role they played in bringing the vision of Indian test cricket being at the top of the table come true.
Lastly, he thanked MS Dhoni for his belief in him as a Captain and to be an able individual who could take Indian Cricket forward.
He had already relinquished captaincy in the T20I format and was removed as the skipper for the ODI format, as the selectors wanted one captain for the limited overs game. He was replaced by opening batsman, Rohit Sharma.
Kohli, in his seven year tenure, had many highs such as being the first captain to lead the team to a series win in Australia. He, also built a pace bowling attack which can be considered the best in the world. The team, under him, has been very competitive in the SENA countries(South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia). They have been dominant at home, beating every team handily. He will easily be considered as India’s most successful test captain.
There has been no announcement of a new test captain yet.
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