He led the Men in Blue in 68 Tests and won 40 of those while averaging 58.40 with the bar.
The 33-year-old has decided to step down as the Indian skipper in Test cricket, announcing his decision through a post on social media. His Indian side lost the Test series to South Africa in Cape Town yesterday after a series of controversial incidents, one that put himold in the limelight. Despite this, it comes as a surprise that the Indian captain has decided to quit his role.
Having taken up duties for the first time in Adelaide in 2014 as an interim in the absence of MS Dhoni, it didn’t take long for Kohli to become full-time captain in the longest format as Dhoni announced his retirement in Tests during that tour of Australia.
Kohli is also the fourth most successful captain in Test history, only behind Graeme Smith, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting. Under his leadership, India won a Test series in Australia for the first time in 2018/19, and also registered some impressive wins in many other countries.
In his post on social media, the skipper stated that “everything has to come to a halt at some stage and for me as Test Captain of India, it’s now” and added:
“There have been many ups and also some downs along the journey, but never has there been a lack of effort or lack of belief. I have always believed in giving my 120 percent in everything I do, and if I can’t do that, I know it’s not the right thing to do. I have absolute clarity in my heart and I cannot be dishonest to my team.”
KL Rahul, who captained India in Kohli’s absence during the second Test at Wanderers, is one of the first-choices to take over as captain of the Test team, whilst options like Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant are pretty much in contention as well.
Kohli will be in action during the ODI series which kick-starts in less than a week in Paarl. India will play trhee ODIs before heading back home for a series against Sri Lanka.
