In what has become a major shock to the Indian cricket fans, Virat Kohli has on Thursday announced that he has decided to step down as the Indian Cricket team captain for T20. He said he will relinquish the captaincy after the upcoming T20 World Cup. The announcement was a bolt from the blue moment for the India team as the world cup is just a month ahead. He said that he need to give himself space to be fully ready to lead the Indian team in Test and ODI cricket. 

Virat Kohli, who is now in Dubai for playing the second phase of the IPL games 2021, took to social media and shared a statement of his decision. In his statement, Kohli has said, "I have been fortunate enough to not only represent India but also lead the Indian Cricket Team to my utmost capability. 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." 

He penned, "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. I have given everything to the Team during my time as T20 Captain and I will continue to do so for the T20 Team as a batsman moving forward." 

"Of course, arriving at this decision took a lot of time. After a lot of contemplation and discussions with my close people, Ravi bhai and also Rohit, who have been an essential part of the leadership group, I've decided to step down as the T20 Captain after this T20 World Cup in Dubai in October. I have spoken to the secretary Mr Jay Shah and the President of BCCI Mr Sourav Ganguly along with all the selectors about the same. I will continue to serve Indian cricket and the Indian Team to the best of my ability", Kohli added. 

Earlier, there were hearsays that Kohli has decided to relinquish his T20 captaincy. These rumours were rampant on social media, however, a BCCI official has denied such rumours and asserted that Kohli will continue his captaincy for all the three formats and even BCCI Secretary Jay Shah had denied the reports. However, it has now come true that Kohli himself had announced that he will be stepping down as Indian team captain for T20 after the upcoming world cup. 

Virat Kohli is currently camped in Dubai for the IPL games. He is captaining the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the matches will begin on Sunday. Following the IPL games, the T20 World Cup will begin on October 17 and the tournament will jointly be hosted by the United Arab Emirates and Oman. 

A look at Virat Kohli's T20 captaincy: 

India has played 45 T20s under Kohli's captaincy and of these 45 matches, the Men in Blue had won 27 matches and lost 14, while the rest four ended with no results. Kohli has scored the most T20 International runs by an Indian skipper. With 1421 T20 runs, Kohli has ranked fourth among captains with the most runs in the T20s. He has been the second most successful T20 captain of India with 27 wins. Who is first? It's obviously MS Dhoni, with 42 wins as Indian captain. 

Kohli also holds the record for scoring the fastest 1000 runs in T20 as captain. He reached the glorious feat in 30 innings and he is also the only Indian skipper to win the T20 bilateral series in all SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia) nations. India had won 5-0 in New Zealand in 2020, 2-1 in Australia in 2020, 2-1 in England in 2018, and 2-1 in South Africa in 2018. Kohli had become the captain of India in all formats in January 2017 and after four years, he has now decided to step down as T20 captain. While the fans express shock over his sudden decision, social media had begun predictions, following his announcement, that T20 vice-captain Rohit Sharma will succeed Kohli and become the next T20 captain for India. 

🇮🇳 ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Ds7okjhj9J

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) September 16, 2021