Michael Vaughan calls Virat Kohli's decision to step down as India's T20I captain 'unselfish'

Virat Kohli's decision to step down as Team India's T20 captain after the ICC T20 World Cup in Dubai has been labelled as "unselfish" by former England skipper Michael Vaughan. On Thursday (September 15), Virat announced that he is stepping down as skipper of the Indian Twenty20 after the World Cup. Virat said that he has "given everything to the Team" as T20 captain and will continue to do so as a batsman moving forward.

Commenting on Virat's post on Instagram, Vaughan wrote, "Well Done... that's a very unselfish decision and also one which will give you some nice space to hopefully relax a little away from all the pressures."

The T20 World Cup will get underway from October 17, with the final to be played in Dubai on November 14. India and Pakistan will be locking horns on October 24 in a group-stage encounter.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

ALSO READ | Timely done or untimely? Virat Kohli's resignation as T20I captain after World Cup leads to more questions than answers

If we talk about Kohli's numbers in T20Is, he captained India in 45 matches with the side winning 27 out of those. India only lost 14 T20Is under Kohli captaincy while two games were tied and two matches had no results.

Virat wrote, "I feel I need to give myself space to be Full 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."

"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," Kohli further added in the statement.

IN PICS |Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan: Top 7 IPL 2021 stars and their cricketing idols

Talking about the workload, Virat said, "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."

Kohli said he arrived at his decision after discussing with head coach Ravi Shastri and opening batsman Rohit Sharma. "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," said Kohli.