India batting icon and former captain Virat Kohli has ended the silence on why he left the captaincy of India and Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Kohli, who has served as India's all-time skipper since early 2017, left the role in early 2022.
Kohli was at the helm of RCB since 2013 and served as the skipper till 2021 before he opted to step away from the role. The India icon has opened up on the reason why he left the captaincy of both India and RCB.
"I've said this before — I had the opportunity to explore and look elsewhere, especially during the peak years of my career. From 2016 to 2019, there were constant suggestions for me to switch. At one point, it became really tough because too much was happening. I was captaining India for 7-8 years and RCB for 9 years. There were expectations from me with the bat in every game I played," Kohli said on RCB podcast.
Kohli admitted that the stress and the expectations began to fade his love for the game. "I never felt like the attention was off me. I was always in a space where I didn’t know what to do. I was exposed to it 24x7, and it got really tough. I decided that if I wanted to stay in this space, I needed to be happy. I wanted to be in a place where I could just play cricket without being judged," he added.
Meanwhile, Kohli also revealed that he thought about leaving RCB but stuck to the franchise due to the emotional connect. "I wouldn't say I was tempted, but I did think about it. I asked myself, 'What is more valuable to me?' I’ve won a lot of things for India, and I’ve earned a lot of accolades.
"So I had to make a decision: do I want to go into a new setup and figure things out again? That’s when I realised that the relationship I’ve built here is more valuable — and so is the mutual respect that’s developed over so many years. Now, I’m just going to see it through. Whether we win or not, it’s fine. This is my home," he said.
