'When his captaincy is under threat, he tends to quit': Manjrekar says Virat Kohli wanted 'to make himself unsackable'

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has made an attempt on understanding the actual reason behind Virat Kohli's sudden decision to step down as Test captain.

Virat Kohli's decision to quit Test captaincy out of the blue has gotten everyone talking. While members of the cricketing fraternity are paying their tribute to Kohli on their respective social handles, some pundits and experts are attempting to understand the reason behind the unexpected decision. The latest to join the discussion is Sanjay Manjrekar.

'When his captaincy is under threat, he tends to quit': Sanjay Manjrekar says Virat Kohli wanted 'to make himself unsackable' (HT COLLAGE)

Former India batter, while speaking to ESPNCricinfo, said he was surprised to see him step out of the captaincy role across formats in such a short span of time and maintained that this decision had to with the latest Test series result. The Kohli-led side lost a three-match series 2-1 to hosts South Africa despite winning the first Test.

"It’s come one after the other in a very short span of time - giving up the white-ball captaincy and IPL captaincy as well. This also was unexpected, but it is interesting that all these three resignations of important positions have come so quickly one after the other.

“I think, in some way, he wants to make himself unsackable as captain. When he gets that vibe that his captaincy is under threat, he tends to quit," siad Manjrekar.

The cricketer-turned-broadcaster then added:

"The landscape is changing, the scenario around Virat Kohli that allowed him to be himself and flourish. Ravi Shastri coming in. He was uncomfortable when Anil Kumble was the coach and once Shastri and the support staff came in, he felt comfortable. The new coach (Rahul Dravid) is no Ravi Shastri. He would have got some inkling of the kind of support he was going to get.

"The regime change in the BCCI also has something to do with all these important announcements that Virat has made. Clearly, a guy who finds himself outside his comfort zone. Individually, his batting is not at its best. All that has just added up. He is not in a great space at the moment. These are all emotional decisions that one can understand."

Kohli finishes his stint as the country's most successful Test captain, with 40 wins and just 17 losses after a whopping 68 games.