The Pressure Was Building On Virat Kohli, Says Saba Karim

Former Indian wicketkeeper-batter Saba Karim said that Virat Kohli might have felt suffocated after leading the team for seven years.

Virat Kohli’s sudden decision to step down from the Test captaincy role has shocked his fans and the entire cricket world.

Virat Kohli relinquishes captaincy duty from all formats

On Saturday, Kohli announced on his official Twitter handle to step down as India’s Test captain just a day after his side lost the Test series 1-2 against South Africa.

Kohli stepped down from the T20I captaincy role after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup in November last year. Just ahead of the South Africa tour, he was replaced with Rohit Sharma as the ODI captain as the selectors didn’t want two white-ball captains for India.

“Everything has to come to a halt at some stage and for me as Test captain of India, it’s now. There have been many ups and also some downs along the journey but there has never been a lack of effort or lack of belief,” Kohli issued a statement on his official Twitter handle.

Virat Kohli is a person who doesn’t take a step back from fighting: Saba Karim

Karim noted that the series of events that has transpired in the last few months might have created pressure on Kohli and subsequently, he took the decision to quit captaincy from all formats.

“It is very difficult to say what is the reason behind this. The picture we are getting to see in the last four-five months, it means the pressure was building on him. He might have been feeling suffocated because of which he might have ended his relationship with captaincy,” Karim told India News.

“Virat Kohli is a person who doesn’t take a step back from fighting. I agree India lost the Test series in South Africa, where they were expected to win, but he is always ready for such challenges. It is the first time he has taken such a decision on his own,” he added.

Kohli took over the reins from MS Dhoni in Test cricket after the latter retired from the red-ball format at the end of 2014. Kohli stood as India’s captain in 68 Test matches and won 40 of them, the best record for any Indian skipper.

Under the leadership of Kohli, India won their first-ever Test series in Australia when they defeated them 2-1 in the 2018/19 Border Gavaskar series.

The team’s approach of playing overseas Test matches transfigured as they developed a winning and fighting attitude under Kohli’s tenure as the captain of the team.

Also Read: Virat Kohli Has Taken The Decision To Relinquish The Test Captaincy After A Lot Of Thinking – Rajkumar Sharma