Virat Kohli Is Still Annoyed With The Selectors For Removing Him From ODI Captaincy: Madan Lal

India’s World-cup winner Madan Lal feels that Virat Kohli was annoyed with Indian selectors for removing him from ODI captaincy and that could have played a major role in his decision to quit Test captaincy.

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

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.

Everything has to come to a halt at some stage: Virat Kohli on relinquishing Test captaincy

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 lack of effort or lack of belief,” Kohli issued a statement on his official Twitter handle.

Virat Kohli is very annoyed with the selectors for removing him from the ODI captaincy: Madan Lal

Madan Lal said that he was surprised to learn of Kohli’s unexpected decision and hinted at his axing from ODI captaincy to be one of the reasons behind it.

“It has definitely surprised me that Virat Kohli has left Test captaincy. I think he is still very annoyed with the decision of the selectors or the board when they said you’re not going to be the captain of the 50-overs side. That I think he still has in mind, he is still thinking ‘why they removed from the 50-over format?,” Madan Lal told India Today.

“We knew he is going to be the captain for Tests, he was very successful series. I definitely think he is very annoyed with the selectors or the board that he was removed from 50-over captaincy,” 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: Rohit Sharma Remains Front-Runner To Become India’s Next Test Captain, Selectors To Also Consider KL Rahul As Potential Candidate- Reports