ViratKohli opens up about his retirement as India Test Captain after four years

The star cricketer resigned as India’s Test captain in January 2022, and now, four years later, he reveals the reason.

In January 2022, one day after India lost the Test series 1-2 in South Africa, ViratKohli announced that he was stepping down as India’s Test captain. This development came only months after he quit as India’s T20I captain and was removed as ODI skipper. Today, after over four years, he has broken the silence on this decision.

ViratKohli reveals why he opted for retirement as India Test captain in 2022.

While India achieved several notable successes under his leadership, the demands of captaincy began to take a toll. As his personal form dipped and India fell short of winning a Test series in South Africa, he felt it was the right time to step aside as a Test captain. On Tuesday, during the RCB Innovation Lab, Kohli said, “I ended up being in a place where I became the focal point of our batting unit and the focal point of leadership. I didn’t realise how much of a load both those things will present in my daily life, to be honest. But because I was so driven to make sure Indian cricket stayed on top, I didn’t really pay attention to it. And that’s precisely why by the time I left captaincy, I was completely spent. There was nothing left in the tank. I was completely consumed by it. It was gruesome.”

What more did ViratKohli say on the matter?

He added, “The reason you’re given a leadership role is because people believe you can take on more and still manage it. In many ways, leadership is more about management than even coaching. It’s about understanding the people playing with you and for you, and figuring out how to get the best out of them. To do that, you constantly have to be in a space where you’re not focused on yourself. You don’t even think about whether someone is going to ask you, ‘Are you okay?’ That thought doesn’t even cross your mind.” He further said, “But towards the end of my captaincy tenure, I did look back and realise that no one had really asked me that question for almost nine years – ‘How are you doing?”