Former BCCI General Manager and Indian cricketer Saba Karim believes that Virat Kohli’s decision to step down as India’s T20I skipper after the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 “must be a well-thought-out decision”, saying it is not easy for one person to lead the team across all three formats.
On Thursday, September 6, Indian skipper Kohli announced that he would step down as the T20I skipper after the T20 World Cup 2021 to be played in the UAE and Oman in October-November.
Before Kohli's official announcement, there were reports of him quitting captaincy of one of the three formats, as well as, were a lot of talks of being overburdened with many believed it could be the reason that he hasn’t yet won an ICC trophy for India.
However, Karim has insisted Kohli didn’t take the decision because of the outside noise and said it will make him strive even harder towards winning the T20 World Cup trophy this year.
Karim told ANI: “He must have thought about it for a long time, he must have felt that the workload is increasingly getting a bit too much and these days, all three formats having a different championship, it is not easy for one person to be a captain across all three formats. This must be a well-thought-out decision and I am sure he wants to contribute as a batter now to the national team in T20 also.”
On being asked Kohli's decision will make him even more determined to win an ICC title, the former selector said: “I think it should work in a different way altogether, it should propel the team members to give it the best shot so that they can give Virat Kohli a perfect farewell to his captaincy by winning the World Cup and that is what Virat will strive for because he is yet to win an ICC championship and it is the perfect occasion for him to do that for his side.”
The former BCCI official replied after he was asked whether the outside noise forced Kohli to take the decision, “I do not think that the kind of experience Virat has and the kind of relationship he has had with Rohit, the outside noise would have not affected him. It is a personal decision, he must have realized that he is leading the side across all the formats and it does take its toll. Traveling, being with the team and more so with this bubble fatigue setting in.”
Karim signed off by saying, “He is a family man now and it is not easy for him to lead the national side in all three formats. In his tweet, he has clearly stated that he would like to continue as Test and ODI captain so I think one needs to respect his decision and move forward.”
(With ANI Inputs)
