Virat Kohli to step down as T20I captain

The Indian cricket team skipper, Virat Kohli, has announced that he will step down as the captain of the T20I team following the conclusion of the upcoming Men's T20 World Cup.

The 32-year-old took to his personal Twitter handle to announce the same.

"I have decided to step down as the T20 captain after this T20 World Cup in Dubai in October. I have also spoken to secretary Mr Jay Shah and the President of BCCI Mr Saurav Ganguly along with all the selectors regarding the same," Virat said.

For some time, there has been speculation about Kohli's future as white-ball captain especially in the backdrop of Rohit Sharma's brilliant track record of winning five IPL titles for Mumbai Indians.

"Understanding workload is a very important thing and considering my immense workload over the last 8-9 years playing all three formats and captaining regularly for last five to six years, I feel I need to give myself space to be fully ready to lead the Indian team in Test and ODI cricket," Kohli said in a statement on his Twitter page. "I have given my everything to the Team during my time as T20 captain and I will continue to do so for the T20 captain and will continue to do so for the T20 team as a batsman moving forward," he further added.

Having taken over as the captain of the Indian limited-overs team in 2017, Virat Kohli has led India in 45 T20Is, winning 27 and losing 14 matches.

This development comes just days after a report suggested that Virat Kohli will step down as the limited-overs captain after the T20 World Cup, which was later denied by the BCCI treasurer Arun Dhummal.

The decision, Kohli said, was taken after consulting head coach Ravi Shastri, his heir apparent Rohit, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah. The T20 World Cup starts on October 17.