Pietersen was one of the firsts to react on Kohli’s lengthy Instagram post. The former right-handed batsman replied with a fire emoji, which got the fans confused.
Noted former cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar, Sourav Ganguly, Dilip Vengsarkar, Michael Vaughan aired their views on Virat Kohli’s decision to stand down as India’s T20I captain after the upcoming T20 World Cup in UAE and Oman in October–November but no one generated the kind of curiosity Kevin Pietersen did. The former England captain’s comment on Kohli’s Instagram post announcing his decision got netizens confused.
Kohli took to Instagram and Twitter on Thursday evening (IST) to state he would like to concentrate more on ODI and Test cricket as a captain and therefore, to manage his workload better, he would step down as the T20I captain after the ICC event.
Pietersen was one of the firsts to react on Kohli’s lengthy Instagram post. The former right-handed batsman replied with a fire emoji, which got the fans confused.
Kohli, also the team’s batting mainstay, cited the need to balance his workload as he vacated the role which is likely to go to his deputy Rohit Sharma.
“…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,” Kohli said in a statement posted on Twitter.
“I have given everything to the team during my time as T20 captain and I will continue to do so for the T20 team as a batsman going forward.”
The 32-year-old said he consulted, among others, Rohit before taking the decision.
India are yet to win an ICC trophy under Kohli, while his Royal Challengers Bangalore team continue to chase their maiden Indian Premier League title.
Rohit is IPL’s most successful captain, having led Mumbai Indians to five IPL titles.
Kohli has a 27-14 win-loss ratio as India’s T20 captain. The upcoming T20 World Cup will be his first and last assignment as an Indian captain in an ICC event of the shortest format.