''Team members will give their best shot in the T20 WC to give Virat Kohli a perfect farewell''- Saba Karim
Former national selector Saba Karim believes Indian skipper Virat Kohli's decision to quit the captaincy in the T20 format will make him strive harder towards winning an ICC title at the upcoming T20 World Cup 2021.
Virat Kohli on Thursday announced via his Twitter account that he will be relinquishing his leadership duties in the shortest format. He will be doing this after the ICC T20 WC next month as part of workload management.
Speaking to ANI, Karim reckoned that the T20 WC is set to be Virat's swan song as captain from the format. This would propel his team members to give their best shot towards the title and give their outgoing skipper a fitting farewell.
Karim said-
"I think it should work in a different way altogether, it should propel the team members to give it the best shot so that they can give Virat Kohli a perfect farewell to his captaincy by winning the World Cup and that is what Virat will strive for because he is yet to win an ICC championship and it is the perfect occasion for him to do that for his side,''
When asked if the 'outside noise' would have forced Virat to make such a decision, Karim said-
I do not think that the kind of experience Virat has and the kind of relationship he has had with Rohit, the outside noise would have not affected him. It is a personal decision, he must have realised that he is leading the side across all the formats and it does take its toll."
"Travelling, being with the team and more so with this bubble fatigue setting in. He is a family man now and it is not easy for him to lead the national side in all three formats. In his tweet, he has clearly stated that he would like to continue as Test and ODI captain so I think one needs to respect his decision and move forward," he added.
Click here for all the T20 World Cup records, be it batting, bowling or team records.
Virat took over the reigns of the T20 format back in 2017. Over the course of the next four years, he led India to a bilateral series win in Australia, England, South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and the West Indies amid countless victories on home soil.
He led the side in a total of 45 T20Is, winning 27 and losing just 14. His win percentage of 65.11 as skipper is rivaled only by Ashgar Afghan (81.73).
"He must have thought about it for a long time" - Saba Karim on Virat Kohli relinquishing T20 captaincy
Meanwhile, Karim claimed that Kohli has been leading the side across all three formats for a considerable period of time. But the thought of relinquishing leadership roles in one of three the threets must have been lingering with him for a long time.
Karim said:
"He must have thought about it for a long time, he must have felt that the workload is increasingly getting a bit too much and these days, all three formats having a different championship, it is not easy for one person to be a captain across all three formats. This must be a well-thought-out decision and I am sure he wants to contribute as a batter now to the national team in T20 also,"
Virat, in his statement, wrote:
"I have been fortunate enough to not only represent India but also lead the Indian Cricket Team to my utmost capability. I thank everyone who has supported me in my journey as the Captain of the Indian Cricket Team," Kohli said in a statement. "I couldn't have done it without them -- the boys, the support staff, the selection committee, my coaches, and each and every Indian who prayed for us to win,"
He added:
"Understanding workload is a very important thing and considering my immense workload over the last 8-9 years playing all 3 formats and captaining regularly for last 5-6 years, I feel I need to give myself space to be fully ready to lead the Indian Team in Test and ODI Cricket.
I have given everything to the Team during my time as T20 Captain and I will continue to do so for the T20 Team as a batsman moving forward," he added.
🇮🇳 ❤️ https://t.co/Ds7okjhj9J
The T20 World Cup will be the last time we'll see Virat leading the side in the format and fans will hope he goes out with an ICC title.