'This is just his first T20 World Cup as captain' - Brian Lara 'very shocked' by Virat Kohli's decision to leave T20I captaincy

Former West Indies great Brian Lara revealed that he was in shock after learning about Virat Kohli’s decision to leave India’s T20I captaincy after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup 2021, scheduled to be played between October 17 to November 14 in the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

Kohli took to all his social media platforms to make his decision public, as he cited workload and space management to be the major reasons behind his call. “Understanding workload is a very important thing and considering my immense workload over the last 8-9 years playing all 3 formats and captaining regularly for last 5-6 years, I feel I need to give myself space to be fully ready to lead the Indian Team in Test and ODI Cricket”, his statement read.

“Of course, arriving at this decision took a lot of time. After a lot of contemplation and discussions with my close people. Ravi bhai and also Rohit, who have been an essential part of the leadership group, I’ve decided to step down as the T20 Captain after this T20 World Cup in Dubai in October.”

Sometimes it is good to take a step away: Brian Lara

“I was in shock because I think he’s (Kohli) done a tremendous job, played against all the big countries — South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia — beating all of them, and for me, he has done a tremendous job,” Lara said during a video interaction with cricket.com on Saturday.

“This is actually his first (T20) World Cup as a captain so this will end his career as a captain after that. It’s a big shock. But the kind of intensity that he plays with, I feel that sometimes it might be good to take a step away; concentrate may be on another format of the game,” said Lara.

“I have had these issues as well when I was playing XI when a couple of times I stepped down as captain as it became very, very stressful,” the 52-year-old added. He further said that he is sure about Kohli’s decision would serve Indian cricket well. “I am not in his (Kohli’s) shoes but I’m sure he made his decision, not just as a personal decision but a decision that serves Indian cricket as well,” added Lara.