×

WTC Loss, IPL Drought, Challenges With Selectors Reason Behind Virat Kohli Stepping Down as Team India T20 Captain: Report

Virat Kohli Steps Down: The report states that Kohli wanted Shikhar Dhawan for the UK tour, but the present selection committee was against it.

Dubai: The Virat Kohli tweet at 5:53 PM IST on Thursday dropped like a bomb on India skipper’s fans and plaudits. While everybody started guessing what could be the real reason behind such a big call, reports now state that there was a build-up to Kohli’s reaction on Thursday. And the reasons were the WTC loss, the IPL drought with RCB and then he also was not on good terms with the present selection committee.

“As early as July, soon after the World Test Championship final, there were murmurs in the corridors of power about an impending change at the top. Apart from the need to regain his own heights as a batsman, which Kohli indicates he intends to pursue by giving up T20I captaincy, there had been indications of additional pressure of captaincy revealing itself,” a report by website ‘Cricbuzz’ states.

The report states that Kohli wanted Shikhar Dhawan for the UK tour, but the present selection committee was against it. This reportedly created dents in the relation between Kohli and the committee.

“With a new selection committee and an impending change in the coaching set up, Kohli’s challenges were on the rise. For instance, he had to fight hard to have Shikhar Dhawan in the ODI squad for the India-England series in February- March this year. The selectors, it is learnt, wanted to have another opener who did well in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Kohli had insisted that Dhawan, who had by then lost his place in the Twenty20 squad, was a must,” the same report states.

Kohli, who is in the UAE, would be leading the RCB side in the remainder of the IPL season. Currently, RCB are placed third in the points table and have a good chance of making the playoffs.

trending this week