Virat Kohli to step down as RCB captain after IPL 2021

New Delhi: Following his decision to step down as Team India's T20 captain, Virat Kohli has decided not to continue as Royal Challengers Bangalore after the IPL 2021 ends next month, RCB released a social media statement to confirm Kohli's decision.

In a video tweeted by RCB, Kohli announced that he will continue to play as an RCB player until he plays his last IPL game while thanking his fans for all the support.

“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," Kohli said in the video. “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.”

Kohli added that he has been shouldering a lot of responsibilities over the years and requires space to be fresh for his future ahead.

“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. It’s been a great journey of nine years, with moments of joy and frustration, happiness and sadness," he said.

Kohli has been facing the heat over the last one week after reports of disharmony in the dressing room and BCCI’s distrust in his captaincy ability has been making the rounds. The board has already signed up MS Dhoni as the mentor of the team during the upcoming T20 World Cup with Rohit Sharma all set to take charge after the tournament.

Also, the future of Ravi Shastri as the head coach of the team is also in doubt after the coach was blamed by some quarters of causing the COVID-19 outbreak in the team; leading to eventual cancellation of fifth England vs India Test. (UNI)