Virat Kohli said 'ready to lead Indian team in Test & ODI' when he quit T20I captaincy

Earlier yesterday the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) informed the Indian cricket fans through a press release that it had relieved Virat Kohli from the ODI captaincy and handed it to Rohit Sharma. 

This has led fans to ask if Virat Kohli was indeed "sacked" from his captaincy. The answer does lie in Virat Kohli's post. Earlier Virat Kohli said 'ready to lead Indian team in Test & ODI' when he quit T20I captaincy. To add to it, as per PTI reports, Virat Kohli was given the choice to voluntarily step down from India's ODI captaincy but he 'refused' to do so and thus the BCCI went ahead with its decision to 'relieve' him for duties. 

Here's a look at what Kohli had said while relinquishing T20I captaincy:

I have been fortunate enough to not only represent India but also lead the Indian Cricket Team to my utmost capability. I thank everyone who has supported me in my journey as the Captain of the Indian Cricket Team. I couldn't have done it without them - the boys, the support staff, the selection committee, my coaches and each and every Indian who prayed for us to win.

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 the 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. I have given everything to the Team during my team as T20 Captain and I will continue to do so for the T20 Team as a batsman moving forward.

Of course arriving at this decision took a lot of time. After a lot of contemplation and discussion with my close people, Ravi bhai and also Rohit, who have been an essential part of the leadership group, I have decided to step down as the T20 captain after this T20 World Cup in Dubai in October. I have also spoken to the BCCI secretary Jay Shah and president Sourav Ganguly along with all the selectors at the same time. I will continue to serve Indian cricket team and the Indian team to the best of ability.

‘End of an era’ - Rohit Sharma takes over as Team India's ODI skipper

Virat Kohli took over the limited-overs captaincy from MS Dhoni back in 2017 and under his leadership, India has won the limited-overs series in every country it has played in. But one void in Virat Kohli white-ball captaincy is that he has not managed to lead them to any ICC trophy. The closest India came to silverware was in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, but the team lost to Pakistan in the final.  

(Image: PTI)