Virat Kohli said that he can’t say if leaving captaincy would have any positive or negative impact on his batting. Notable that Virat Kohli hasn’t played a game under anyone since November 2016.
Last week BCCI announced that Rohit Sharma will take over from Virat Kohli as ODI captain. Virat Kohli has already resigned from the T20I captaincy post-T20 World Cup. In IPL as well, he has resigned from captaincy after completion of the last season.
Virat Kohli also said that he was informed about the decision (to remove him from ODI captaincy) in a meeting with selectors for test squad selection for the 3-Test match series against South Africa.
“Well, I can’t say whether it will leave a positive impact on my batting. No one can predict these things. I have taken a lot of pride in batting as a captain. I know that the motivation level will not dip at all,” Virat Kohli said in a press conference before departing to South Africa.
“As far as captaincy, I have been absolutely honest to the job. That’s my assessment of the limited-overs captaincy. You know how to perform and it’s just about understanding these roles and making sure I perform to the best of my abilities,” He added further.
As far as his batting record as a captain is concerned, it’s second to none. As an ODI captain, he scored 5449 runs with an average of 72.65 which included 21 hundreds. Only Ricky Ponting scored more hundreds (22) than him but the Australian skipper captained 135 more ODIs than Virat. In Test matches, he scored 5703 runs with an average of 55.36 which included 20 hundred. Only South African skipper Graeme Smith scored hundreds (25) than him as skipper but again he captained 43 more Tests than the Indian skipper.
“I am available for ODI series in South Africa,” says Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli also rubbished all reports which were stating that he would opt-out from the ODI series against South Africa.
“I am available for selection and was available for selection. You should not be asking these questions. You should be asking to people who are writing these and their sources. They are absolutely not credible. I am available for ODIs and I was always keen to play. As I said, these questions would be asked to people who are writing lies.” Virat Kohli said.
The ODI series against South Africa will begin on January 19 at Paarl. In the last South Africa tour 2017-18, he scored 558 runs in the 6-match ODI series which led India to their ODI series win on South African soil.
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