The most successful Indian skipper in the longest format of the game, Virat Kohli dropped a bombshell on Saturday by quitting Test captaincy following his team's series defeat to South Africa. Kohli walked away with impressive numbers as the captain where he led India in 68 Test matches -- winning 40, losing 17 and drawing 11 matches -- with a win percentage of 58.82 while registering memorable wins in overseas and home conditions.
Kohli was appointed to the full-time role after MS Dhoni announced his retirement from the format back in 2015. His first stint of captaining the Test team was during the Adelaide Test in 2014 against Australia and Kohli's captaincy sojourn ended with the Cape Town Test -- his 99th game in the traditional format.
Kohli's sudden exit from the leadership role had the entire cricket fraternity erupting in disbelief. Wishes also poured in for the 33-year-old Kohli, who is the third most successful captain in the history of Test cricket after Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting.
Kohli was also congratulated by his friend and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) teammate AB de Villiers. The South African batting great took to Twitter to share an appreciation message for Kohli. "@imVkohli Well done, Virat! U most definitely raised the bar," he wrote.
{{/usCountry}}Kohli was also congratulated by his friend and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) teammate AB de Villiers. The South African batting great took to Twitter to share an appreciation message for Kohli. "@imVkohli Well done, Virat! U most definitely raised the bar," he wrote.
{{/usCountry}}De Villiers was a part of the Bangalore-based IPL franchise for more than a decade, having joined the side back in 2011. He piled plenty of runs during his association with RCB, during which he also formed a lethal partnership with skipper Kohli. The right-handed dasher signed off as the second-highest run-scorer for RCB with 4491 runs, only behind Kohli (6283 runs) on the list.
Kohli's career has now witnessed his captaincy adieu from all three formats including the leadership role with RCB. In September 2021, he had announced that he would be leaving the T20I captaincy after the T20 World Cup in the UAE.
He also stepped down as the captain of the RCB after the completion of the second half of IPL 2021. Two months later, in December, Kohli was replaced by Rohit Sharma as the ODI captain, which eventually saw Kohli's farewell from Test responsibility too.
It's yet to be seen whether Rohit will lead the Test side for India's next series against Sri Lanka at home. KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant have also been backed by pundits to take over the mantle from Kohli in red-ball cricket.