Kapil Dev Backs Kohli's Decision To Step Down As T20 Captain, Says 'Find It A Bit Odd Though'

Virat Kohli, in a lengthy emotional post, thanked all the fellow players, support staff and BCCI for their constant support and described himself as 'fortunate'.

New Delhi: Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli on Thursday shocked the world by making a big announcement ahead of the T20 World Cup. Making the official announcement via a tweet on Thursday, Virat Kohli said that he will step down from Indian cricket team's T20 captaincy after the World Cup in UAE and Oman. The star batsman, in a lengthy emotional post, thanked all the fellow players, support staff and BCCI for their constant support and described himself as 'fortunate'. Kohli is ranked among the top ten cricketers who have captained their respective national teams in most matches in all three formats. 

Reacting to Virat's announcement, 1983 World Cup winning skipper Kapil Dev told ABP News, "These days it is a bit surprising to see cricketers making decisions from themselves. I think a player should talk to the selectors and board before making such decisions. Though i feel a bit odd as he is a great captain and player. Virat is an important player and i wish him all the good luck."

Here's what Kapil Dev said...

In his post, Virat had expressed he felt he needed to give himself space to be fully ready to lead the Indian Team in Test and ODI Cricket.

"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," Virat had written on Instagram.

"I think we should respect Virat's honesty about his decision to express that he doesn't want to be captain anymore, Dhoni had done a similar thing before. However, a board usually tells a player what to do but nowadays players make their own decision, i fail to understand this," the ex-India skipper said.