Virat Kohli steps down as India's Test captain

Virat Kohli has announced that he is going to step down from Test captaincy.

"Every thing has to come to a halt at some stage and for me as Test captain of India, it is now," Kohli said in a Twitter post on Saturday evening. Among other, Kohli thanked former Indian captain MS Dhoni in his post for having shown him the way.

"It's been 7 years of hard work, toil and relentless perseverance every day to take the team in the right direction. I've done the job with absolute honesty and left nothing out there. Everything has to come to a halt at some stage and for me as Test Captain of India, it's now," Kohli wrote in his Twitter post.

The BCCI shared a post nine minutes after Kohli's Twitter post.

This development follows India's series loss in South Africa this week despite having led 1-0 after the first Test. KL Rahul served as Kohli's deputy in the recent series, whereas Rohit Sharma is the official vice-captain of the team, having replaced Ajinkya Rahane late last year.

India next play a Test series against Sri Lanka in late February.

Kohli was removed from ODI captaincy last year but it was expected he would continue in the Test format, given how Team India have made themselves such a dominant force in Tests under his leadership over the last few years.

India didn't lose any Test series at home under Kohli's captaincy. India won 11 out of 11 series under him. India also won Test series in Australia, Sri Lanka and West Indies under his captaincy.