Virat Kohli breaks silence on decision to quit Test captaincy; 'As batter, I could...'

Former Indian skipper Virat Kohli has finally revealed his thoughts behind his decision to step down from the captaincy role of the Indian cricket team in the Test format. Kohli dropped a bombshell on January 15 by announcing his decision to hang his boots as the Test skipper of India. Earlier in November Kohli stepped down from the role in the T20 format, while he was later replaced by Rohit Sharma as the ODI skipper of India. 

Meanwhile, as per ANI, speaking on an episode of ‘Fireside Chat with VK’ Kohli cited MS Dhoni and added, one doesn’t need to be a captain of the team, in order to play the role of a leader. “See, I think firstly you need to have a complete understanding of what you set out to achieve and whether you have achieved those targets or not. Everything has a tenure and time period, so you have to be aware of it. As a batter, you might be able to give more to the team, so take pride in that,” Kohli said. 

What did Virat Kohli learn after playing under MS Dhoni?

Mentioning the legendary Indian skipper Dhoni in his statement, Kohli said, “You do not need to be a captain to be the leader. When MS Dhoni was in the team, it was not like he was not the leader, he was still the guy from whom we wanted to have inputs. To win or not win is not in your hands, the striving for excellence and to be better every day is not something you can do the short term”. Further explaining his views, Kohli said that moving on is also a part of leadership which also includes the right time to do so. 

“I have played under MS Dhoni for a while and then I became the captain, my mindset has been the same all this while. I always thought like a captain when I was just a player in the team,” Kohli said while concluding his statement. Kohli took over the captaincy of India in Test cricket after MS Dhoni announced his retirement from the longest form in 2014. He helped the team reach the No.1 spot in the ICC Test team rankings, before calling it quits in January 2022.

Virat Kohli thanked MS Dhoni in his statement while stepping down from captaincy

After’s Dhoni’s retirement from Test cricket in 2014, the world cup winning skipper continued to lead India in white-ball cricket till 2016. Kohli became the white-ball captain of the team in 2017, and with Dhoni with his side, the now 34-year-old ticked off many milestones. While announcing his decision to step down from captaincy in Test cricket, Kohli also mentioned Dhoni in his statement and credited Dhoni for entrusting him with the responsibility of the squad.

(Image: BCCI)