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"It did become tough for me": Kohli on relinquishing Indian captaincy
Indian star and passionate leader Virat Kohli has opened up about his decision to step down as the captain of the Indian team, saying perpetual scrutiny and relentless pressure just became too much for him. Virat Kohli in 2021 stepped down from India’s T20I captaincy, and later he quit as RCB captain in 2022. In the same year (2022), Virat Kohli stepped down as captain of India's Test team following India’s series defeat to South Africa. Amidst all this, Kohli experienced a chaotic period in 2022, forcing him to take a break from cricket.
"At one point, it did become tough for me because there was just too much happening in my career. I was captaining India for a period of 7-8 years. I captained RCB for nine years. There were expectations on me from a batting perspective every game that I played," said Kohli in an 'RCB Bold Diaries' podcast.
"I didn't have this sense that the attention was off me. If it wasn't captaincy, it would be batting. I was exposed to it 24x7. It did get very tough on me, and it did get too much in the end. That's why I stepped down because I felt like if I've decided I want to be in this place, I need to be happy.
"I need to have a space in my life where I can just come and play my cricket without being judged, without being looked at as what are you going to do this season and what's going to happen now," said Kohli, who has been with RCB since the inaugural edition of the IPL.
Currently, Virat Kohli is involved in the IPL, playing for Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He is the highest run-scorer in the IPL 2025 with 505 runs in 11 innings.
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