Virat Kohli explains why he quit India's T20I captaincy: 'It's been 6-7 years of intense cricket'

Virat Kohli said the feeling was of 'relief' after leading India for one final time in T20Is on Monday (November 08). Team India signed off with a 9-wicket win against Namibia in the final Super 12 clash of the T20 World Cup 2021 in what was Kohli's last game as the captain of the T20I side. The batting maestro had already confirmed he will be stepping down as the captain of the Indian team in the shortest format at the end of the T20 World Cup 2021.

India were knocked out of the T0 World Cup 2021 on Sunday after Afghanistan's 8-wicket defeat at the hands of New Zealand. The Men in Blue needed a favour from Afghanistan to remain alive in the competition but the Mohammad Nabi-led side's defat sealed their fate in the tournament as India failed to make it to the top four and bowed out from the group stages.

India suffered back-to-back defeats against Pakistan and New Zealand in their first two games in the tournament as they semi-final hopes were left shattered. The Men in Blue staged a comeback with three wins in their next three matches but six points were not enough to help India finish second in Group 2 to reach the semis as Kohli's stint as T20I captain ends without a major ICC trophy.

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Nonetheless, Kohli said it was the right time for him to step down as the captain in T20Is while citing workload. The run machine also pointed out how the intense cricket that he has played in the last 6-7 years while leading the Indian team has taken away a lot from him. Kohli was appointed as India's Test captain in 2014 and took over as captain across all formats from MS Dhoni in 2017.

"Relief firstly (emotions). As I said it's been an honour, but things have to be kept in the right perspective," Kohli said after leading India to a comprehensive win in his final game as T20I captain.

"This was the right time for me to manage my workload. It's been six-seven years of intense cricket every time we take the field and it takes a lot out of you. It's been great fun, great bunch of guys and we've really performed well as a team," said the 33-year-old explaining his decision to quit T20I captaincy.

Also Read:5 points: What went wrong for India at T20 World Cup 2021

Kohli led India in a total of 50 T20I matches as captain, wining 30 while losing 16 games. 2 matches ended without a result while two ended in a tie. He led India to some memorable series wins against the likes of England, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia among others.

The T20 World Cup 2021 was Kohli's first and last major ICC T20 event as captain of the side where he failed to inspire his side to the semis and will have to settle without a trophy. Along with Kohli as T20I skipper, the nine-wicket win against Namibia also was Ravi Shastri's final game as the head coach of the Indian team.

Also Read:Kohli hints at his successor as India's captain in T20Is: 'He's looking over things for a while now'

Kohli thanked Shastri and his support staff - bowling coach Bharat Arun, fielding coach - R Sridhar, who are all set to depart after India's campaign at the T20 World Cup 2021 ended on Monday. Rahul Dravid will take over as Inda's new head coach from the upcoming New Zealand series at home.

"Big thank you to all those guys (Ravi Shastri & Co.), they've done a tremendous job all these years keeping the group together. Great environment with them around, they were an extended part of our bigger family. They've contributed immensely to Indian cricket as well. A big thank you to all of them from all of us," said Kohli.