IPL 2021: "If you really want a break from captaincy, you should leave captaincy in the IPL" - Aakash Chopra 

Former India opener Aakash Chopra backed Virat Kohli's decision to step down from his role as captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) after the end of the ongoing edition of the tournament. The Indian skipper also recently announced his decision to leave the post of India's T20 to focus on his batting across all formats.

Chopra noted that stepping down as captain of the national team will not provide much of a respite in terms of a break. With India playing a limited number of T20Is a year, Chopra opined that Kohli had to step down as the IPL captain of RCB if he truly needed a break from the role. Speaking on his YouTube channel, he said:

"When you leave the post of India's T20 captain, so how many days will you get a leave from the post, 10-12 days at most because that's how much India plays T20s in a year. So, that will not be a huge break from captaincy. If you really want a break from captaincy, you should leave captaincy in the IPL as well."

You can check out the IPL teams and squads here.

The 2-month break from captaincy will help Virat Kohli a lot: Aakash Chopra

Chopra feels future editions of the IPL will now be helpful for Virat Kohli, since he will not be assuming the role of captain of the franchise.

"So that 2 months of rest from the captaincy will help. Well done Kohli, wish you well. Hopefully you will have the IPL trophy and the T20 World Cup trophy as well."

The former India player added that he wishes to see Kohli lift both the IPL and the upcoming T20 World Cup as well. The two tournaments mark Kohli's final two assignments as a T20 captain.

As per the IPL 2021 time table, Royal Challengers Bangalore will resume their IPL 2021 campaign against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Abu Dhabi tonight. The three-time finalists are placed third in the IPL 2021 points table and had recorded a convincing win over KKR in the first leg earlier in the competition.