Virat Kohli to step down as India T20 captain after ICC T20 World Cup

Virat Kohli announces stepping down as T20 captain amid split captaincy rumours between him and Rohit Sharma

Virat Kohli on Thursday announced his decision to step down as the captain of the Indian T20I team after the completion of the ICC T20 World Cup, which is scheduled from 17th October to 14th November in UAE and Oman.

“I have decided to step down as the T20 captain after this T20 World Cup in October,” the stellar batsman posted on social media. He will continue to remain captain of ODI and test teams.

Virat to continue as a T20 batsman

In his social media post, Virat Kohli said that he will continue to play as a batsman in the T20 team. He also cites ‘understanding the workload’ as a probable reason to quit the game.

“Understanding workload is a very important thing and considering my immense workload over the last 8-9 years playing all 3 formats and captaining regularly for last 5-6 years, I feel I need to give myself space to be fully ready to lead the Indian Team in Test and ODI Cricket.,” Virat Kohli wrote. 

He had discussed his decision to quit the captaincy with Rohit Sharma and other key members of the leadership and decision-making team. 

Rohit Sharma might take over the captaincy reigns

Virat’s decision to quit T20 captaincy comes amid rumours of split captaincy. Though BCCI has quashed the captain split rumours between Kohli and Sharma, the hitman’s fans are already speculating him as the T20I captain. They have started posting his cricket achievements on Twitter

Rohit’s credible performance in IPL as Mumbai Indians (MI) captain has made him a strong contender for captaincy. He has led the team to victory five times and six playoffs from 2013 to 2020. India has won around 15 out of 19 T20 matches under his captaincy. Virat has led India in 64 T20 matches of which India has won 37 and drawn 11 games.