Samira Vishwas
Tezzbuzz|12-05-2025
The overwhelming burden of expectations from simultaneously shouldering the responsibility of leading both India and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) led to his decision to step down as the skipper of both teams, Virat Kohli has said in a podcast.
The star batter made the revelation while speaking on RCB’s Bold Diaries podcast. He said that while shouldering the double responsibility, he was constantly exposed and overburdened with the expectation of either performing as a batsman or as a skipper at both the international level and in the IPL.
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“I captained India for 7-8 years and RCB for nine. There were expectations of me as a batter every single game. I never felt the attention was off me. If not captaincy, it was my batting. I was exposed to it 24×7. It got very tough and too much in the end,” Kohli said as quoted by Sportstar.
Stepping away from captaincy
Kohli started to gradually step down from captaincy roles after the 2021 T20 World Cup as he resigned as India’s T20 skipper. Later, he also stepped down as the captain of RCB. Then in early 2022, he resigned as India’s captain after the national team lost a series against South Africa. Subsequently, he took a sabbatical from cricket for a month.
‘Considered leaving RCB’
Kohli, 37, who has till now played every edition of the IPL for the RCB, also revealed during the podcast that at one point he considered switching to another team although the prospect never tempted him.
“I wouldn’t say I was tempted, but I did think about it. I also asked myself the question, ‘What is more valuable to me’. I won a lot of things in my career for India. I have won a lot of accolades as well,” said Kohli.
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“So I had to take a call. ’Do I want to go into a new setup and figure out life again’. So that is when I realised that the relationship is more valuable to me, and also the mutual respect that has been created over so many years. And now I’m just gonna see it through. Whether we win or don’t win, it’s fine. This is my home,” he added as quoted by Hindustan Times.
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