Virat Kohli steps down as India's Test captain: Have absolute clarity, can't be dishonest to my team
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Virat Kohli has announced he will be stepping down as the Test captain of the Indian cricket team after the team's 2-1 defeat against South Africa in the recently-concluded three-match series.
In a shocking development, Virat Kohli has announced he will be stepping down as the captain of the Indian cricket team. Kohli took to Twitter on Saturday (January 15) to announce that his journey as the Test captain of the Indian team has come to a halt now.
The decision comes as a shock to may as Kohli had led India extremely well in the recently-concluded Test series against South Africa. Though the visitors lost the three-match Test series 2-1, they had come close to pulling off a historic maiden Test series win in the Rainbow nation after winning the series-opener in Centurion comfortably by 113 runs.
Kohli, who had left India's T20I captaincy last year, had been replaced by Rohit Sharma as the limited-overs captain of the team ahead of the country's tour of South Africa. Kohli had then gone on to counter comments made by BCCI president Sourav Ganguly about the change in captaincy as a controversy had erupted following the Indian cricket board's move to sack the 33-year-old from ODI captaincy.
While he refused to reveal the exact reason why he is giving up the Test captaincy of the Indian team, Kohli said he has always believed in giving his 120 per cent for the team and can't be dishonest with his team if he cannot give his all. The batting maestro also said he has absolute clarity in his heart about the decision which has sent shockwaves across the cricketing fraternity.
"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," Kohli said in a statement on Twitter.
"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," he added.
Kohli also went on to thank former India captain MS Dhoni, who had decided to hand over India's Test captaincy to Kohli permanently in 2014, and head coach Ravi Shastri, who along with him helped India become a force to reckon with in the longest format. India went on to secure some memorable Test wins under the leadership of Kohli and Shastri.
"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 you to MS Dhoni who believed in me as a Captain and found me to be an able individual who could take Indian Cricket forward," he added.
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) January 15, 2022
Kohli led India in a total of 68 Test matches and signs off as the most successful Indian captain with an impressive 40 wins to his name. He led India to their maiden Test series win on Australian soil in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2018-19 which remains among India's best Test victories of all time.