Virat Kohli: Leading a team was never a burden on him

Leading a team to Virat Kohli was never a burden on him. But being relieved of captaincy may put a burden on Kohli. Like what happened to Sachin Tendulkar. Kohli, one of the most successful ODI captains.

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Captaincy never saw Virat Kohli shrink-

Captaincy never saw Virat Kohli shrink, rather he grew with it. In order to restore the gold standards he had set for himself, he had to make some sacrifices, and relinquishing the T20 captaincy was the first step towards his retirement from batting. And now comes his ouster as ODI-captain.

The team needs captain Kohli instead of Kohli-

In this sense, being relieved of the duties of captaincy can bring relief to him, and free up the batting maestro. That’s what his team wants. It is not that captaincy has affected his batting. In the early to middle phases of his tenure, the added responsibility has lifted his batting. But it has reached a point where the team needs captain Kohli instead of Kohli.

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Since the start of 2020, he has averaged 26.04 in Tests – a terrifying number for someone of his caliber, and it has progressed from a phase of deviance and into a real concern. However, their corresponding numbers in ODIs and T20Is are in the upper reaches of 40 (46 in ODIs and 49 in T20Is).

Sachin Tendulkar, captaincy seemed to be a steady mill around his neck-

There have been many examples of cricketers reviving their old form after relinquishing captaincy roles. Take, for example, Sachin Tendulkar, captaincy seemed to be a steady mill around his neck. Twice, he took over the duty, and although he maintained his high batting standards. His batting level rose a few notches after being relieved of the captaincy duties. His stature was that he could keep on leading his team, but there came a time when it became a burden, which could take a toll on his batting.

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Step down from T20 captaincy-

Along with Kohli’s age, his peculiar age also has to be considered. He is 33 years old, and though extremely fit, is entering the final stages of his career and when workload management has started to take off in the blink of an eye. “I thought it was right. Time to manage my workload. Six or seven years of heavy work is done and there is a lot of pressure,” he had said while announcing his decision to step down from T20 captaincy.