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What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
NEW DELHI: Indian Test cricket team captain Virat Kohli on Saturday shocked his fans and BCCI after he announced to step down as the skipper for the only remaining format, less than a month after he was removed as ODI captain to bring uniformity in the leadership across shorter formats of the game. His decision comes barely within a day after India lost Test series to a relatively weaker South Africa team in an away ongoing tour that comprises three Tests and as many ODIs.
Kohli had taken over Test captaincy at Adelaide in the middle of India’s Australia tour in 2014 when then captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni had resigned to focus on 2015 ICC World Cup.
The right-handed batsman chose to share this decision on Twitter, unlike at the press conference where he had said that he was informed about change in ODI captaincy one-and-half hours before the selection meeting on December 8 last year.
He wrote, ” 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. Everything has come to a halt at some stage and for me as Test captain of India, it’s now. There have been many ups and also some downs along journey, but never has there been a lack of effort or lack of belief. I have always believed in giving up 120 percent in everything I do, and if I can’t do that, I know it’s not the right thing….”
He thanked Dhoni for passing on the leadership skills and succession plan in him. He didn’t make any reference to BCCI president Sourav Ganguly or present team coach Rahul Dravid or any other past legends Sachin Tendulkar or contemporaries, includingYuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh or Gautam Gambhir, in whose presence who made his debut.
“Lastly, a big thank you to MS Dhoni who believed in me as a Captain and found me to be an able individual who could take Indian cricket forward.
Kohli had stepped down as India T20I skipper after the World Cup last year in England. In December ahead of the South Africa series, the BCCI announced that Rohit Sharma will be taking over from Kohli as the ODI skipper as well.
