Virat Kohli announced on Thursday that he will give up India’s T20 International captaincy after the T20 World Cup that starts in the United Arab Emirates next month.

“I feel I need to give myself space to be fully ready to lead the Indian team in Test and ODI cricket,” Kohli said on Twitter.

“Understanding workload is a very important thing and considering my immense workload over the last 8-9 years playing all three formats and captaining regularly for last five to six years, I feel I need to give myself space to be fully ready to lead Indian team in Test and ODI cricket,” added the 32-year-old.

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Here’s Kohli’s post announcing his decision:

Time out: Kohli’s decision to step down as T20 captain makes absolute sense

Kohli would be looking to get his hands on the World Cup trophy next month, his last assignment as India’s T20I skipper. But irrespective of how it pans out in the UAE, he can take pride in an envious leadership record in the format.

Kohli took over India’s limited-overs captaincy in 2017, succeeding Mahendra Singh Dhoni. India’s winning percentage under Kohli is better than it was under Dhoni, despite the fact that the former skipper led the country to the inaugural World T20 title in 2007.

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India have won 27 out of 45 matches under Kohli with two tied games and as many abandoned, making it a healthy winning percentage of 65.11.

Perfect timing: Reactions to Kohli’s decision to step down as T20 captain after the WC

India are yet to win an ICC trophy under Kohli but the team’s series wins under him in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, England and West Indies will remain the highlights of his leadership tenure that started in 2017:

  • In 2018, India managed to beat a formidable England team in its own backyard with the series result being 2-1.
  • Perhaps the biggest overseas triumph came in New Zealand in 2019-20 season with Kohli’s team trouncing the Black Caps 5-0 before going on to lose the subsequent ODI and Test series.
  • In 2020, India bounced back after losing the ODI series in Australia to win the T20 rubber 2-1.
  • In 2021, India beat England at home 3-2 and Kohli was named the player of the series.
  • Kohli remains the leading-run scorer in T20Is with 3,159 runs at an impressive average of 52.65 and a highest score of 94 not-out.

Here’s a look at Kohli’s captaincy numbers for India in the shortest format:

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Most matches as T20I captain:

Player Span Mat Won Lost Tied NR %
MS Dhoni (INDIA) 2007-2016 72 41 28 1 2 59.28
EJG Morgan (ENG) 2012-2021 64 37 24 2 1 60.31
WTS Porterfield (IRE) 2008-2017 56 26 26 0 4 50.00
Asghar Stanikzai (AFG) 2015-2021 52 42 9 1 0 81.73
AJ Finch (AUS) 2014-2021 49 23 24 0 2 48.93
KS Williamson (NZ) 2012-2021 49 23 24 1 1 48.95
DJG Sammy (WI) 2011-2016 47 27 17 1 2 61.11
V Kohli (INDIA) 2017-2021 45 27 14 2 2 65.11
Courtesy ESPNcricinfo Statsguru

Most runs as captain in T20Is:

Player Inns NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50 0 4s 6s
AJ Finch (AUS) 49 5 1589 172 36.11 146.72 1 10 5 162 64
V Kohli (INDIA) 43 12 1502 94* 48.45 143.18 0 12 3 109 58
KS Williamson (NZ) 49 5 1383 95 31.43 125.49 0 11 3 134 36
EJG Morgan (ENG) 59 10 1371 91 27.97 144.46 0 9 2 86 82
F du Plessis (SA/World) 40 6 1273 119 37.44 134.28 1 7 0 119 43
MS Dhoni (INDIA) 62 32 1112 48* 37.06 122.60 0 0 0 75 34
Asghar Afghan (AFG) 48 5 1020 62 23.72 118.19 0 4 3 67 53
WTS Porterfield (IRE) 54 6 1002 72 20.87 110.96 0 3 5 114 20
Babar Azam (PAK) 23 2 914 122 43.52 136.82 1 10 2 104 15
Courtesy ESPNcricinfo Statsguru

Virat has been a true asset for Indian cricket: Ganguly backs Kohli’s T20I captaincy decision

Comparison of performance playing as captain and non-captain in T20Is (minimum 10 games as each):

Not captain Not captain Not captain As captain As captain As captain
Player Country Mat Inngs Bat avg Bowl avg Inngs Bat avg Bowl avg
Ahmed Raza* United Arab Emirates 41 9 16.00 44.62 7 8.50 18.38
Aizaz Khan* Hong Kong 39 20 14.31 18.93 14 13.69 22.39
Asghar Afghan* Afghanistan 72 18 17.83   48 23.72 4.00
Babar Azam* Pakistan 61 33 49.62   23 43.52  
Balbirnie, A* Ireland 51 33 25.48   14 20.86  
Botha, J South Africa 40 15 18.00 20.50 5 19.50 27.67
Brathwaite, C R* West Indies 41 8 11.50 39.71 19 16.07 30.63
Broad, S C J* England 56 11 6.00 21.57 15 8.20 24.53
Chandimal, D* Sri Lanka 59 31 23.23   21 16.75  
Chigumbura, E* Zimbabwe 57 38 21.63 24.31 18 14.35  
Clarke, M J Australia 34 12 11.90 30.60 16 28.38 72.00
Coetzer, K J* Scotland 59 27 25.96 11.20 30 24.63  
de Kock, Q* South Africa 57 46 33.55   11 41.60  
de Villiers, A B South Africa 78 58 24.14   17 33.21  
Dhoni, M S India 98 23 38.85   62 37.07  
du Plessis, F South Africa 50 10 28.33   40 37.44  
Duminy, J-P* South Africa 81 64 38.79 28.76 11 38.00 27.50
Finch, A J* Australia 76 27 40.18   49 36.11  
Gayle, C H West Indies 74 53 29.02 24.67 17 30.63 21.00
Iqbal Hussain* Qatar 22 5 4.50 15.82 3 6.33 16.00
Jayawardene, D P M D Sri Lanka 55 36 34.00   19 27.44  
Kohli, V* India 90 41 57.14 49.50 43 48.45
Courtesy howstat.com

(With inputs from PTI)