Virat Kohli insists he still has something to offer India post-captaincy

Virat Kohli believes he doesn’t need to skipper India to be among the team leaders, suggesting he is far from done despite his recent loss of the top job.

Kohli stepped down from the Test captaincy in January 2022 following the series defeat in South Africa, ending as his country’s most successful Test captain ever.

The unexpected decision came after he was stood down from the captaincy of T20 and ODI sides.

In a recent interview, Kohli spoke about how one can contribute to the team even when he is not its leader.

“Everything has a tenure and time period. You obviously have to be aware of that,” Kohli told Digit’s ‘Fireside chat with VK’.

“People might say ‘what this guy has done’ but you know when you think of moving forward and achieving more, you feel like you have done your job.

“Now as a batsman maybe you have more things to contribute to the team. You can make the team win more. So take pride in that. You don’t need to be a captain to be a leader. As simple as that.”

Kohli took over the captaincy from MS Dhoni, first in Tests and then in limited-overs cricket, and despite his success and obvious drive has always had his critics.

He says that the example of the role Dhoni played in the team after relinquishing the captaincy would be one he would like to emulate.

“When MS Dhoni was in the team it was not like that he was not a leader. He was still the guy we were going to constantly to get inputs from.

“But for him to understand that, yes it is natural progression and a natural time for me to take over and take Indian cricket forward to a level that I wanted to and as long as I feel that I have done that job without having materialistic goals, that has a longer lasting effect.”

Kohli is philosophical on the huge changes to his career, saying that everything has its time.

“Taking the decision to move on is also part of leadership, to understand the right time to do it. To understand that, maybe the environment needs a different direction. Obviously same culture, but a different set of ideas to boost people in a different way and contribute in a different manner.

“One has to embrace all kinds of roles and responsibilities. I have played under MS as a player and I have been the captain of the team for a long time, my mindset has been same.

“I always thought like a captain even when I was a player. I want to make the team win. I have to be my own leader.”