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"Was Exposed 24x7" Virat Kohli Breaks Silence On Quitting As India, RCB Captain

Sakshi Sharma

Virat Kohli opens up (Source: AP)Virat Kohli opens up (Source: AP)

Virat Kohli has candidly reflected on one of the most emotional phases of his career during which the dual responsibility of leading the Indian team and RCB took a significant toll on his mental well-being. 

In a heartfelt conversation on the RCB Bold Diaries podcast, Kohli explained that unstoppable scrutiny and expectations surrounding his leadership and batting ultimately led him to step down from captaincy to rediscover personal happiness. 

Kohli Reveals The 'Real Reason' Why He Stepped Down From India's Captaincy

Kohli gave away his role as RCB captain after the 2021 IPL season, also step down as India's T20I captain soon after the T20 World Cup that year. 

The star player was removed as ODI captain by the BCCI in favour of having one white-ball leader. That decision sparked public disagreement with then BCCI President Sourav Ganguly and culminated in Kohli stepping down as India's Test captain in early 2022. 

“At one point, it did become tough for me because there was just too much happening. There were expectations on me from a batting perspective every game I played. I didn’t have a sense that the attention was off me. It was either captaincy or batting. I was exposed to it 24x7.”

The former captain confessed that the burden of leadership left him mentally exhausted. The turning point came when he realised that his joy for the game was being overshadowed by the pressure to perform and lead.

"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. 

Kohli Credits MS Dhoni & Gary Kirsten For Early Backing

The 36-year-old also shared that he took a month-long break from cricket in 2022, during which he completely disconnected from the game. The break was crucial in helping him recharge mentally and emotionally.

He also spoke about the early phase of his international career, emphasizing that his journey was anything but guaranteed even after leading India to victory in the U-19 World Cup. He credited legend MS Dhoni and coach Gary Kirsten for backing him during his initial years and giving him the pivotal No. 3 batting position.