'Came as a surprise to me' - Manoj Tiwary on Virat Kohli's decision to step down as T20I skipper

Virat Kohli on Thursday, September 16 announced that he will step down as India’s T20I captain post the upcoming T20 World Cup. His decision fetched in a lot of mixed reactions from the cricketing fraternity. The former India cricketer Manoj Tiwary asserted that Kohli’s decision came to him as a surprise.

Captaining any national side comes in with varied challenges and pressure. There are a lot of hopes pinned in on the skipper and the team to deliver. And in India, where cricket rules the imagination the task is furthermore demanding. Tiwary shed light on these aspects and praised Kohli for his stint with team India as captain.

“Time will only speak for itself. But having said that, I was going through his tweet where he did mention that he wants to give some space to himself. Because captaining team India is not an easy thing at all. There are so many expectations, workload and a lot of pressure and to develop team India from the time he has taken over, his success rate speaks for itself. He has done absolutely great job with his captaincy. But this came as a surprise to me,” Manoj Tiwary said to Republic World.

I don’t think captaincy will affect Virat Kohli’s batting: Farokh Engineer

For more than a decade now, Kohli has been a pivotal aspect of team India. He has led the side with utmost passion and aggression and has shaped the team into a strong unit. India has had a successful run in T20Is under Kohli. He is India’s second most successful T20 captain in terms of wins. From 90 T20I matches, Kohli has chipped in 3159 runs which include 28 half-centuries. Farokh Engineer termed him as one of the best batters and asserted that the responsibility of leading the side will not affect Kohli’s batting.

“Virat is a strong character and he won’t let it affect his batting. He may have had a string of low scores, but he is a splendid batsman. Certainly, one of the bests in the world today, and he is a strong-willed person. If a guy of a weaker will and I can understand him saying that it is affecting his batting. But in Virat’s case I don’t think captaincy will affect his batting,” said Farokh Engineer.