Virat Kohli on Saturday (January 15) shocked everyone as he stepped down from the position of Indian Test captain.
His decision comes a day after India’s 2-1 Test series loss to South Africa. Kohli took to Twitter to make the big announcement.
"It's been 7 years of hard work, toil and relentless perseverance everyday to take the team in the right direction. I've done the job with absolute honesty and left nothing out there. Every thing has to come to a halt at some stage and for me as Test Captain of India, it's now," Kohli said in a statement.
Virat Kohli had taken charge of the Indian Test team in 2014 and the national side achieved tremendous success under him in the longest format. He led in 68 Tests, winning 40 matches and losing 17.
After his announcement, BCCI congratulated Virat for taking the Indian team to unprecedented heights in the longest format.
“BCCI congratulates #TeamIndia captain @imVkohli for his admirable leadership qualities that took the Test team to unprecedented heights. He led India in 68 matches and has been the most successful captain with 40 wins,” the Indian board tweeted.
The highlight of Kohli’s Test captaincy tenure was the Test series victory in Australia in 2018-19. He also led India to two Test series wins in West Indies and Sri Lanka. Under his captaincy, Team India were leading 2-1 in England last year before the series got postponed due to COVID cases in the visiting camp.
For his immense contribution to Indian cricket as a Test captain, Virat Kohli also received rich praise from the cricket fraternity on Twitter.
Here are the reactions:
After the World T20 World Cup 2021 in November, Kohli had stepped down as T20I captain while he was sacked as ODI skipper ahead of the ongoing South Africa tour.
