Why did Virat Kohli step down as Indian captain in T20Is?

Virat Kohli surprised cricket fans by announcing his decision to step down as the captain of the Indian T20I team. Under his captaincy, the Indian team recorded many memorable victories in the shortest format of the game.

Kohli took over as the Indian T20I captain in 2017 and led the country in 45 matches, where the team emerged victorious 29 times. Under the 32-year-old's leadership, the Men in Blue blanked New Zealand 5-0 in an away T20I series last year.

India also defeated Australia 2-1 in a T20I series Down Under in December and beat England 3-2 in a five-match T20I series at home earlier this year. Quite a few fans were shocked after Virat Kohli's announcement and could not understand the reason behind his decision.

Understanding workload is a very important thing: Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli will lead India in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021

Virat Kohli revealed the reason behind his big decision via a social media post. He thanked the support staff, the selection committee, the fans and the team management first. The 32-year-old then went on to write that he made the decision, keeping in mind his workload.

"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," wrote Kohli.

Virat Kohli concluded by saying that he gave his 100% to the team as the T20I captain and was looking forward to playing as a specialist batsman now. Kohli will lead the nation for one last time in the T20I format at the upcoming T20 World Cup.