Virat Kohli, hours after India’s Test series loss against South Africa on Friday, had ended the post-match team meeting at the Newlands dressing room with an announcement and a request.
To the surprise of those present in the dressing room, Virat Kohli said that he had decided to step down as India’s Test captain. He also asked his teammates and the support staff to keep the news to themselves. Virat Kohli’s decision to retire comes after India was defeated by South Africa in the Cape Town Test by 7 wickets. The tourists slumped from taking a 1-0 lead to lose the series 2-1.
Virat Kohli Informed That He Was Stepping Down As Test Skipper In Dressing Room 24 Hours Before Tweet And Urged Teammates To Keep The News To Themselves
Virat Kohli on Saturday announced that he is stepping down as the captain of the Indian Test team. Last year, the 33-year-old had stepped down as the T20I captain and then he was removed as the ODI leader as the selectors wanted one captain for the white-ball format.
Those at the meeting said the captain said “I ask a small favour, please don’t share with anybody outside the dressing room”.
About 24 hours later, on Saturday evening, like so often in the past, Virat Kohli broke the news on social media Twitter. This marked the end of Virat Kohli’s journey as a skipper, as he had earlier relinquished T20I captaincy followed by the selectors’ decision to remove him from ODI leadership.
“It’s been 7 years of hard work, toil and relentless perseverance every day 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 wrote in his Twitter post.
At the post-match press conference, after India’s another Test series defeat against Proteas in Cape Town on Friday, Virat Kohli looked unusually downbeat. The wind of change was blowing in Indian cricket, with Rohit Sharma’s appointment as white-ball captain and his promotion to Test vice-captaincy.
Before going to South Africa, Virat Kohli had taken on the BCCI, openly contradicting Board President Sourav Ganguly on the captaincy issue. Later, chief selector Chetan Sharma appeared before the press and corroborated Sourav Ganguly’s version. Following Ravi Shastri’s departure as the Indian team head coach, Virat Kohli also had lost his biggest backer in the dressing-room.
His form, too, became a topic of debate of late and although he scored a brilliant 79 in the first innings of the third Test against the Proteas at Newlands, he has now gone 30 international innings without a century in any format. His last ton was in 2019 against Bangladesh in Tests.
But unlike his statement in September last year, when he spoke about giving up T20I captaincy to manage his workload, Virat Kohli’s post on Saturday didn’t touch upon any cricketing issues.
“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 wrote.
When Virat Kohli took full-time charge of the Test team, in Australia in 2014-15 after MS Dhoni’s shock decision to retire mid-series, India was languishing as low as seventh in the ICC rankings. From there to taking the team to No. 1 in the world rankings and staying there for five years had been a spectacular turnaround. Overhauling the fitness culture and forming a four-pronged pace attack that is capable of taking 20 wickets in any conditions, would be his biggest legacies as India captain.
Virat Kohli Retired As Most Successful Test Skipper With 40 Wins In 68 Tests
The 33-year-old led India in 68 games and won 40, becoming the country’s most successful Test captain in the process. He presided over India’s first-ever Test series win in Australia and led the team to a 2-1 lead in England last summer before the fifth Test was postponed due to a Covid-19 outbreak in the Indian camp.
Controversies followed him until his last Test as captain when South African skipper Dean Elgar’s DRS reprieve prompted Virat Kohli to take his frustration to the stump microphone. He was criticized for his on-field behaviour, but Virat Kohli was always like that, leading with passion, taking the aggression to the opponents, and wearing his heart on his sleeve.
As captain, he fell out with Anil Kumble when the latter was the head coach. Ravi Shastri was brought back upon his insistence and together they wrote a golden chapter in Indian cricket. Little wonder then that Virat Kohli’s post had a special mention for Ravi 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,” he wrote.
Virat Kohli offered his heartfelt thanks to predecessor MS Dhoni also.
“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.”
Virat Kohli in his statement thanked the BCCI.
“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.”
KL Rahul, the designated vice-captain, might win the race to be the next Test captain. Rohit Sharma’s long history of injuries might go against him. The disappointment of not being able to win a Test series in South Africa in two attempts (2017-18 and 2021-22) as captain and the personal form of not being able to score a Test hundred in 2 years may have cluttered his mind for long and made him take this decision.