Virat Kohli’s decision to step down from Test captaincy has left his fans in a state of shock. Kohli had earlier stepped down as India’s T20i captain after the T20 world cup. He was later stripped of ODI captaincy too. Having achieved a lot in his reign, team India could not manage to win a single ICC trophy under captain Kohli.
Virat Kohli’s men landed in South Africa considering it their final frontier. For 29 years since India’s first tour post South Africa’s readmission, a Test serious win in the rainbow nation had eluded the men in blue. With a convincing win in the first Test at Centurion, India were the favourites to win the series. Kohli scored 35&18 in the two innings of the first Test. It was India’s first ever win at Centurion.
Kohli missed the second Test due to an upper-back spasm and as a result, the men in blue lost at the Wanderers by seven wickets. This was the first time India had ever lost a Test at the Bullring. In the series decider, Kohli played his 99thtest match. It could have been his 100th Test had he not missed the previous Test match. The right-handed batter score 79 in the first innings helping Team India to put on 223. India failed to defend 212 in the fourth innings as the Proteas chased it with seven wickets in hand. It was also the first time India lost a Test defending more than 150 runs under Kohli.
In his last assignment as T20i skipper, India had a shameful exit from the ICC T20 World Cup. India failed to reach even the semi-finals. India suffered humiliating defeats from Pakistan and New Zealand. Defeat to Pakistan was India’s first ever defeat against the men in green in T20 World Cups. India could only manage to defeat weaker countries like Namibia Afghanistan and Scotland.
Kohli had a quite Tournament with the bat. The 33-year-old scored just 67 runs in the tournament. His best came against Pakistan, where his 57 anchored the Indian batting after Shaheen Afridi ran through the top-order.
India’s last ODI series at home also happened to be Kohli’s last series as ODI captain. India won the high scoring series against England 2-1. The whole three match ODI series was played at the MCA stadium in Pune. The right-handed batter scored 56(60) in the first ODI. Team India won the first match by 66 runs. He followed it up with a 79-ball 66 in the second ODI. England bounced back in style by winning the second ODI by six wickets and with 39 balls in hand. In the series decider the batsman from Delhi could only manage 7(10).
Kohli’s contribution in the longest format as captain will be regarded highly among all his achievements. He took team India from number seven to number one in the ICC rankings and built a world class pace attack that has terrorised oppositions on all conditions.
