Virat Kohli gave a huge shock to his fans and the cricket world in general as he first announced that he will step down as India’s T20I captain after the T20 World Cup 2021 and a few days after added that he will also quit the captaincy of his IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) after the ongoing IPL 2021.
The Delhi-based batter on Monday revealed that he wanted to manage his workload in international cricket and the Indian Premier League (IPL) which is why he decided to step down as captain from the shorter formats this year.
Kohli had taken over RCB's captaincy in 2013 to succeed Daniel Vettori and has been leading India in all three formats since 2017.
"I had to manage my workload at some stage, it wouldn't have been possible for me to keep going on through the year captaining every Indian team in all three formats and the IPL. As a batsman, you have to make sure you are contributing in the best way possible for your team. I didn't want to compromise on the enjoyment of the game also," Kohli said on Star Sports.
Kohli went on to add that he didn't want to be in a situation where he couldn't give 100% on the field because of the multiple responsibilities as the captain.
"I didn't want to be operating at 80% and be miserable in a team environment where I can't contribute my whole energy to the group very organically. I didn't want to have a structure around me where I felt like I'm not able to be like myself on the field because my job is to make sure I'm in the best frame of mind to contribute for my team.
And that is a very unselfish thing to do because what you actually want to do is provide the best out there for your team. And potentially have another guy (as captain) who has fresh energy and a fresh set of ideas to still carry that culture forward and you still continue to be the leader by motivating the youngsters," Kohli said.
RCB made it to their second consecutive IPL playoffs in IPL 2021.
