Virat Kohli opines on his decision to quit T20I captaincy

Ahead of the start of the T20 World cup, Virat Kohli had announced that he will step down as team India’s T20I captain post the mega event. This decision came as a shock for quite a few as the cricketing fraternity reacted to it in numbers. The Indian skipper has however shushed the unnecessary noise been made about his decision.

Kohli asserted that he has explained the reason behind his call and refused to get into any other debates on it. He made it clear that the team is completely focused on doing well in the marquee event and thus he wouldn’t add any fuel to the discussions that are taking rounds.

“I have already explained myself a lot and I don’t think I need to harp on that anymore. Our focus is to play well in this World Cup and do what we need to do as a team. Rest people are trying to dig up things that don’t exist and I am not someone who is ever going to give fodder to that. I have explained myself very honestly and openly and if people feel there’s more to it than what I have already told, I feel pretty bad for them. That’s certainly not the case,” Kohli said as quoted by New Indian express.

It is Virat Kohli’s decision, there was no pressure from our end: Sourav Ganguly

Kohli has been one of the most pivotal cogs of team India’s wheel. He has chipped in crucial runs for the team on many occasions and is renowned as the chase master of modern cricket. His contributions to the side are immense and thus when he took the call of quitting the captaincy of the shortest format, it surprised many including the BCCI president Ganguly.

The former India skipper said that it was Kohli’s individual decision and that there was no pressure on him. He also added that captaining all formats for a longer period of time is a difficult task.

“I was surprised (that Virat Kohli decided to step down as T20 captain). This decision must have been taken only after the England tour and it is his decision. There was no pressure from our end. We didn’t tell him anything. We don’t do things like that because I myself have been a player so I understand. It is very difficult to be a captain in all formats for this long,”Ganguly said.

Pakistan are strong, have to bring our A-game against them: Virat Kohli

The highly anticipated contest between India and Pakistan is scheduled to take place on Sunday, October 24. Ahead of the high-profile clash, the Indian skipper Virat Kohli has termed the Men in Green as a strong team. However, India has had a dominating run against Pakistan in the ICC events.

India has won on seven occasions against their arch-rivals in 50-over World Cups. In the T20 World Cup, the team has registered five victories against Pakistan. Despite the fact that the Men in Blue have a 100% win record against them in the World Cups, the Indian skipper feels that Pakistan has some potential game-changers in the side and that India needs to put their ‘A’ game to the fore.

“Pakistan are strong, you have to play your best cricket against them every time. They have players who are game-changers. We definitely have to bring our A-game against Pakistan,” Virat Kohli said while addressing a press conference.

Hardik Pandya is getting better in terms of being prepared to bowl: Virat Kohli

Ever since he has made his return from the back injury, Hardik Pandya hasn’t bowled a lot of overs. This leaves India with the concern of a sixth bowling option in the mega event if the all-rounder isn’t completely fit to bowl his quota of overs.

Previously, during the warm-up match against Australia, Rohit Sharma had asserted that Pandya hasn’t started bowling yet but he will be ready once the tournament starts. However, Kohli has now provided updates on the all-rounder. He said that Pandya is getting better in terms of his possibility to bowl and that the team has considered a few other options to chime in with the ball as well.

“Well, I honestly feel that Hardik Pandya presently with his physical condition is getting better in terms of being prepared to bowl at least two overs for us at a certain stage in this tournament and we strongly believe we can make the most of the opportunity we have at our hand till the time he starts bowling. We have considered a couple of other options to chip in with overs so we are not bothered about that all,” Kohli added.