PAK vs NZ | 1st ODI: All-rounder Rachin Ravindra all set to make ODI debut

Two chairmen of selectors who oversaw Kohli's rise welcome his decision of quitting T20 captaincy

Ending all the rumours and speculations surrounding the captaincy of India’s white-ball teams, Virat Kohli had on September 16 announced his resignation effective after the upcoming T20 World Cup. The move was greeted with some scepticism around the reasons that would have compelled Kohli to give up leadership from the shortest format at the international level. However, for people who have followed and been an instrumental part of the successful journey of Kohli in white-ball cricket, the movie was on expected lines. Two former heads of the national selection committee at the time when Kohli entered the big stage and flourished have backed Kohli’s move and instead, they have been “expecting” it to happen sooner rather than later. Dilip Vengsarkar, who was the chairman of the selection committee that first picked Kohli for ODI cricket on India’s tour of Sri Lanka said that the “tremendous pressure” of leading in all formats and an underwhelming record in the T20 format as captain would have propelled Kohli to give up captaincy. He also highlighted the empty cabinet of Kohli, who has not won a major trophy as the captain of India or the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League, would have also played its part in guiding him towards the decision. There have been questions on the timing of his decision that whether he should have waited for the T20 World Cup to conclude before announcing but for Vengsarkar, Kohli got the timing of his decision“perfect”. He also hoped that Kohli would be able to end the drought of an ICC trophy in his last opportunity in the shortest format. “I was expecting it. He’s been leading India and has been the No 1 batsman in all formats for almost eight years. He’s been under tremendous pressure to perform because we expect a lot from him every time he goes into bat. Besides that, he’s not done exceptionally well in the T20 format as captain. Even in the IPL, he hasn’t led the Royal Challengers Bangalore to a single tournament win. That must’ve played on his mind too,” Vengsarkar said to TOI. “The timing of his decision has been perfect. The only thing I hope now is he wins the World Cup and signs off as an India T20 captain on a high. It could be his last hurrah as T20I captain." Another former chairman of the selection committee, Sandeep Patil, welcomed Kohli’s decision to step down after the T20 global event. Patil had presided over the selection of the Indian team from 2012 when Kohli was rising to new highs with every passing game and earning a name for himself with superlative performances, especially in white-ball cricket. He suggested that relinquishing leadership of the T20 format will help Kohli to give his everything to only his batting which would be crucial for both him and the team in the coming days. “I welcome Virat's step. Captaincy does play on your mind. Captaining the side and concentrating on your batting at the same time is not an easy job, especially as there's so much cricket these days. This step will 100% help him focus more on his batting,” Patil said to TOI. However, Patil pointed out a “communication gap between BCCI and Virat” on this matter as the board had dismissed a TOI report that reported Kohli’s decision before the skipper made his move public. He suggested the BCCI should accept Kohli’s decision as it is purely his call to when to go. "It seems that there's a big communication gap between BCCI and Virat. You can't have Virat say one thing and the BCCI another. Just a couple of days back, there was a story in TOI about him quitting as a white-ball captain to focus on his batting. However, the BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal rubbished that news quickly. This is purely Virat's decision, and the BCCI should just accept it,” Patil emphasized. Virat Kohli took to his Twitter account to announce his decision to give up the captaincy of the T20 format after the completion of the T20 World Cup later this year.

IPL 2021 | Delhi Capitals maintain Rishabh Pant as captain for remainder of tournament

Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, who took over the captaincy of the Delhi Capitals in the first part of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League will continue to lead the side in the second part of the tournament as well. The franchise released an official statement to confirm the news even as the regular skipper Shreyas Iyer has recovered from the injury and rejoined the side in UAE. Iyer had dislocated his shoulder in the ODI series against England and the Capitals had to elevate Pant to the leadership position. He led the side to the top of the points table with six wins out of the eight games played earlier this year. The franchise however has clearly stated that Pant will leading the side in the remaining part of the 14th edition but has not said on the long term prospects of either Pant or Iyer as the captain of the side. The Capitals will resume their campaign against the Sunrisers Hyderabad on September 22 in UAE.

Virat Kohli announces resignation from India's T20 captaincy after upcoming T20 World Cup

Virat Kohli has resigned from the captaincy of the Indian T2o side and will step down from the post after the conclusion of the upcoming T20 World Cup in UAE. More to follow

Liam Livingstone targets play-off spot for Rajasthan, cites IPL as perfect preparation for World T20

England bating sensation Liam Livingstone has echoed the sentiments shared by members of other international teams such as Australia and South Africa that there is nothing better than playing in the Indian Premier League in order to prepare for the upcoming T20 World Cup. He said that the experience of playing on the same pitches and at the same venues in the IPL where the T20 World Cup has been scheduled to be played will help players earn a significant understanding of the conditions. "There is no better preparation than playing matches on the pitches on which you will be playing World T20 and I guess that's the nice part of it. We have a lot of our guys coming on to play competitive cricket leading up to the World Cup and there will be 10 of us who will be here. Livingstone signed up to play for the Rajasthan Royals before the first part of the 14th edition of the IPL. However, he walked out of the tournament without featuring even in one game citing” bubble fatigue” at the time when there was a wide wave of Covid-19 spiralling out of control across the country. Now, after returning to the Royals camp, Livingstone felt “refreshed” having spent some time with the family. He said that being in Dubai will also help him to be more refreshed as players will be allowed to do more outdoor stuff than they were allowed in Mumbai during the first half of the tournament. "Last time was very different as we were stuck in a hotel room in Mumbai and I was already five to six months away from home during the winters. This is different as I have spent a lot of time over at home during the last few months and it was nice to get refreshed," he explained. “I feel a lot more fresher than what I did last time. Also, in Dubai, we have got a little more outdoor space and guess we can do a little bit more getting out than what we could have done in the middle of Mumbai. So last time, I made the right decision and so I do feel a lot more fresher this time." Livingstone’s withdrawal came at the worse time for the Royals as they were already reeling in the absence of Jofra Archer, who did not travel to India and Ben Stokes, who was ruled out of the tournament after sustaining a fracture in his finger. The duo will be missing in action from the second part of the tournament as well but Livingstone said that the Royals have a “good core” of overseas players along with a pool of talented young Indian players to fill that gap. He set his eyes in sight of a play-off spot for his franchise led by India’s Sanju Samson. "We have got a very good core of overseas players. Whatever be the make of the team, I still believe that we have got real quality to go through and there is young home (India) talent, which gives squad a nice look. Hopefully, I can perform for Royals and take the team to the play-offs,” Livingstone said. The Royals will restart their IPL 2021 campaign with a contest against the Punjab Kings on September 21 in Dubai and the men in pink will hope Livingstone’s ease of hitting sixes will propel them into a significantly better position from where they find themselves now with just three wins out of seven matches played in the first part of the tournament.