When Virat Kohli picked Rohit Sharma as Team India's future captain

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday confirmed that Team India's current full-time skipper Virat Kohli will be stepping down as the T20I skipper after the conclusion of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, 2021 that will be played in the UAE and Oman from October 17 to November 14. At the same time, it is being speculated that Kohli's white-ball deputy Rohit Sharma could succeed him in the shortest format of the game. 

While the appointment of Team India's new T20I skipper still remains a mystery, Virat Kohli had once stated that Rohit Sharma has a tremendous 'cricketing brain' and that he is truly 'captaincy material'. Virat had said this back in August 2013. He was already India's ODI vice-captain back then.

"He (Rohit) has tremendous cricketing brain. I often take his advice during matches," Virat let out a secret when asked as to who apart from him and Dhoni has the ability to lead the Indian team as quoted by PTI.

Virat Kohli steps down as T20 captain

As per a source, Kohli informed BCCI President Sourav Ganguly and BCCI Secretary Jay Shah about his decision earlier on Thursday. The source also revealed that Kohli's decision did not come under pressure. 

On being asked about whether BCCI appointing MS Dhoni as a mentor of Team India for the upcoming T20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman had anything to do with it, the source said that the appointment of MS Dhoni is not an issue as he has been appointed for only this T20 World Cup. 

On being further questioned on possible reasons behind Kohli's decision, the source said that the Delhi-based cricketer's own batting performance may have weighed in on his decision. It is pertinent to mention that Virat Kohli has not scored a century in the past 2 years. Kohli's last century came in November 2019 against Bangladesh in a day-night test in Kolkata. 

Virat Kohli latest tweet

Meanwhile, Virat Kohli also came forward and made it official from his end that he has decided to relinquish the T20I captaincy. Taking to micro-blogging site Twitter, the Delhi batter thanked one and all for supporting him in his journey as the captain of the Indian Cricket Team and also gave special mention to his teammates, the support staff, selection committee, coaches, and all the fans and well-wishers for their support. 

Giving further clarification on why he decided to relinquish T20I captaincy, the batting megastar mentioned that he has taken the decision considering his 'immense workload' over the last 8-9 years where he had played across formats and had also led the Indian team from the front for last 5-6 years.  Furthermore, the batting icon also said that he felt that he needed to give himself space to be 'fully ready' to lead the Indian Team in Test and ODI cricket.