Virat Kohli, who stepped down as the Bangalore skipper after the 2021 season of the India T20 League, said he took that call to give himself some space and manage his workload. Incidentally, the franchise is yet to win the cash-rich T20 tournament in the 14 seasons played.
In addition to that, he also said that the 2021 T20 World Cup will be his last tournament as India skipper in the shortest format. He was later controversially removed as ODI captain before he quit the leadership role in the Test format after the recent series loss against South Africa.
"I'm not someone who holds onto things more than I should. Even if I know I can do a lot more, if I'm not going to enjoy the process, I'm not going to do it," Virat said.
Kohli Will Be Playing His 100th Test Against Sri Lanka in Mohali
He added "Because it's very difficult for people to understand your decisions unless they are in your situation. From the outside, people have their expectations 'Oh! How did that happen? We are so shocked'.”
Rubbishing all the conversations that people had about his decision, Kohli said "There was nothing at all. I keep my life very simple and basic. When I wanted to make a decision, I made a decision and I announced it. I didn't want to think about it and contemplate it for another year. Quality of life, as well as cricket, is something very important to me.”
"Over a period of time, you want to do what you're doing day-in-and-day-out and you want to do as much as you can, but at the end of the day, you have to realize that quality is far more important than quantity. If you go for quantity in execution, then you're going to get burnt out. If I can't be myself in my everyday life and I can't be myself on the field, I will change something.” stressed Kohli.
Team Bangalore Full Squad 2022 for Indian T20 League
- Squad strength: 22 players (14 Indian players and 8 overseas players)
- Purse remaining: ₹1.55 crores
| Batters | All-rounders | Bowlers |
| Virat Kohli * | Glenn Maxwell * | Harshal Patel |
| Faf du Plessis | David Willey | Shahbaz Ahmed |
| Anuj Rawat (WK) | Wanindu Hasaranga | Josh Hazlewood |
| Suyash Prabhudesai | Aneeshwar Gautam | Mohammed Siraj * |
| Luvnith Sisodia (WK) | Akash Deep | |
| Dinesh Karthik (WK) | Siddarth Kaul | |
| Finn Allen (WK) | Jason Behrendorff | |
| Sherfane Rutherford | Karn Sharma | |
| Mahipal Lomror | Chama Milind |
* Retained Players
As the excitement of the new Indian T20 League season reaches its peak, you should look to be part of all this action. Read how to play fantasy cricket and download the Howzat fantasy cricket app. Live the excitement while sitting on your couch at home. Happy gaming!
