Team Bangalore have announced that skipper Virat Kohli will relinquish his captaincy duties following the end of the rescheduled Indian T20 League in UAE. This latest development comes days after the 32-year-old had stated he will step away from leading the Indian cricket team in the T20I format after the ICC T20 World Cup.
Kohli has been with the Bangalore franchise team since the inception of the Indian T20 extravaganza in 2008. He succeeded former New Zealand all-rounder Daniel Vettori as captain in 2011 but hasn’t been able to lead the team to silverware during his tenure as skipper.
Under his captaincy, Bangalore came close to ending their title drought in 2016, with Kohli leading from the front by scoring 973 runs, which is still the most runs scored by any player in a single edition of the Indian T20 League.
"Hello everyone, the whole RCB family, the amazing fans of Bangalore and to all those who have supported us. I have an announcement to make," Virat Kohli said in a video uploaded on Team Bangalore's official Twitter handle.
"I spoke to the management this evening, it was something that was in my mind for a while," Kohli further added.
“This will be my last IPL as captain of RCB. I’ll continue to be an RCB player till I play my last IPL game. I thank all the RCB fans for believing in me and supporting me,” the Bangalore captain said.
"I want to be able to be committed to the responsibilities that I am fulfiling and I felt I needed the space to be fresh, to regroup and be absolutely clear in how I want to move forward," he added.
"It's been a great journey of nine years, with moments of joy and frustration, happiness and sadness."
Bangalore, currently third on the Indian Premier League points table, resume their 2021 campaign against Kolkata on Monday, September 20.
Featured photo: AFP / DIBYANGSHU SARKAR
