Virat Kohli will step down as T20I captain after the upcoming T20 World Cup.
Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra opines Virat Kohli's announcement to quit T20I captaincy after the T20 World Cup should have been delayed. He said the announcement came at the wrong time when the 'rumor market' was already hot.
Kohli on Thursday (September 16) released a statement on Twitter to let everyone know about his decision to leave T20I captaincy after the upcoming mega ICC event. However, the new captain of the T20I team wasn't mentioned by the BCCI in their statement and there are chances it could be the vice-captain, Rohit Sharma.
"I personally feel the timing could have been better. The rumor market is hot and would have gone cold after a few days and you could have captained in the World Cup at ease," he said in his YouTube video.
Chopra added that the announcement should have been made after the 2021 T20 World Cup. "If you had won the trophy, you could have bid goodbye after that and everyone would have clapped.
"If you had not won, then no problem. Of course, things can go this way or that way, and then you could have said that it is enough, it did not happen and you want to step aside."
The 43-year-old knows Kohli has the right to call, but he pointed out that there is still a lot of time left in the upcoming T20 World Cup which is scheduled to be played in UAE from October 17.
"The IPL has not even started and before that, you have decided that you will leave the captaincy after captaining in the World Cup, I find it slightly off. It is his decision when he wants to leave captaincy is completely in his hands. But personally, I am slightly concerned about the timing."
Chopra also feels it could be a little awkward for Rohit and Kohli to play under each other's captaincy in different formats. "When the same two players play all the three formats, and one is the captain in one format and the other in the other two, it's a strange equation. It is slightly difficult to balance that."