I have taken a lot of pride in batting as a captain: Virat Kohli

Team India Test captain Virat Kohli has expressed gratitude for leading the national team in all formats for nearly five years. Back in December 2014, he took over from MS Dhoni as India’s Test skipper after which he took charge in limited-overs cricket since January 2017. However, the mantle of captaincy didn’t fluster the now 33-year-old Kohli by any stretch of the imagination.

Although he hasn’t scored an international century for over two years, he remains a mainstay of India’s batting in all three formats. Before India’s campaign in the T20 World Cup 2021, Kohli put forth his decision of relinquishing Team India’s T20I captaincy. Before India’s upcoming tour of South Africa, the selectors also dropped him as the captain of the ODI team.

Rohit Sharma has taken over as the ODI and T20I skipper from Virat and has made an impressive start, guiding the team to series wins against New Zealand. After getting relieved off ODI and T20I captaincy, the Delhi-born Kohli said that he would stay equally motivated and hungry to taste success.

I know that the motivation level will not dip, says Virat Kohli

“Well, I can’t say whether it will leave a positive impact on my batting. No one can predict these things. I have taken a lot of pride in batting as a captain. I know that the motivation level will not dip at all,” Kohli was quoted as saying to the reporters, India Today reported.

Kohli also went down the memory lane and talked about his experience of captaining the Men in Blue. “As far as captaincy, I have been absolutely honest to the job. That’s my assessment of the limited-overs captaincy. You know how to perform and it’s just about understanding these roles and making sure I perform to the best of the abilities,” he added.

Kohli remains India’s most successful Test captain after he surpassed Dhoni’s tally back in 2019 during the Test series against West Indies. Recently, he also guided India to a win in the second Test against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Kohli is currently third in the list of all-time highest century makers after Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar.