Virat Kohli will step down from his role as the captain of India’s Twenty20 team after this year’s World Cup.
Kohli said in a statement on Twitter on Thursday he wanted to “give myself space” to keep on leading India’s test and ODI teams.
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“Understanding workload is a very important thing and considering my immense workload over the last 8-9 years playing all 3 formats and captaining regularly for last 5-6 years, I feel I need to give myself space to be fully ready to lead the Indian Team in Test and ODI cricket,” he tweeted. “I have given everything to the team during my time as T20 captain.”
The 32-year-old Kohli said he will still be available for the T20 team as a batsman.
No replacement has been named, although Rohit Sharma is the favourite to succeed Kohli as captain.
“I have been fortunate enough to not only represent India, but also lead the Indian cricket team to my utmost capability,” Kohli said.
https://twitter.com/imVkohli/status/1438478585518456832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
“I thank everyone who has supported me in my journey as the captain of the Indian cricket team.
“I couldn’t have done it without them – the boys, the support staff, the selection committee, my coaches and each and every Indian who prayed for us to win.”
Kohli has captained India in 45 of his 90 T20 matches since taking over in 2017. In that time, he’s the world’s third highest runscorer, with 1502 runs at an average 48.45.
The T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates and Oman starts next month.
– additional reporting by Brett Graham
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