Virat Kohli after quitting Test captaincy: I did the job with absolute honesty

The inevitable came a bit early as Virat Kohli on Saturday quit as Indiarsquos Test captain saying he did his job with ldquoabsolute honestyrdquo and time was right to quit the leadership roleKohlirsquos announcement came a day after India suffered an embarrassing Test series defeat against South Africa Kohli was dealing with one controversy after another as he was recently removed as ODI captain by the BCCI after he decided to step down at Twenty20 captainHis decision to quit as Test skipper has come at a time when his relation with the BCCI is so strained that he preferred to announce his decision on social mediaKohli was appointed Test captain back in 2014 when MS Dhoni stepped down in the middle of the series against AustraliaRight timeldquoEvery thing has to come to a halt at some stage and for me as Test captain of India itrsquos nowrdquo Kohli wrote in a statement which he posted on Twitter taking everyone by surprise ldquoThere have been many ups and also some downs along the journey but there has never been lack of effort or lack of beliefldquoItrsquos been seven years of hard work toil and relentless perseverance everyday to take the team in the right direction I have done the job with absolute honesty and left nothing out thererdquo he wrote in his statementKohli led India to the top of world rankings and during his tenure the team recorded a memorable series win in Australia He is the fourthmost successful captain in history of Test cricket who have led in at least 20 Tests in terms of Test winsKohli has 40 wins in 68 Tests in which he led India The 33yearold said that perhaps he is now spent and no longer able to give 120 per cent to the job ldquoI have always believed in giving my 120 per cent in everything I do and if I canrsquot do that I know itrsquos not the right thing to do I have absolute clarity in my heart and I cannot be dishonest to my teamldquoI want to thank the BCCI for giving me the opportunity to lead my country for such a long period of time and more importantly to all the teammates who bought into the vision I had for the team from Day One and never gave up in any situationrdquo he saidlsquoThank you Ravi bhai MSDrsquoHe didnrsquot forget to thank Ravi Shastri and MS Dhoni for their contribution ldquoYou guys have made this journey so memorable and beautiful To Ravi bhai and the support group who were the engine behind this vehicle that moved us upwards in Test cricket consistently you all have played a massive role in bringing this vision to liferdquo ldquoLastly a big thank you to MS Dhoni who believed in me as a captainrdquo he signed off40No of Test wins under Virat Kohli which makes him Indiarsquos finest captain by a distance MS Dhoni led the country to 27 wins from 60 matches while Sourav Ganguly had 21 wins out of 49Tweet talkRavi ShastriRaviShastriOfc Virat you can go with your head held high Few have achieved what you have as captain Definitely Indiarsquos most aggressive and successful Sad day for me personally as this is the team Flag of India we built togetherWasim JafferWasimJaffer14 When Virat took over as Test captain India winning a test overseas was an achievement now if India lose an overseas test series it is an upset And thatrsquos how far he has taken Indian cricket forward and that will be his legacy Congratulations on successful reign imVkohliIshant SharmaImIshant Thank you for all the memories Irsquove shared with you in dressing room amp on amp off the field since childhood where we never thought that you would be our captain amp Irsquoll play 100 test matches for India All we did was just play cricket with all our heart amp things worked out well I still remember back 2017 in South Africa where u told me its high time to win series in these countries Yes we didnrsquot win 201718 series in Africa but we went to Australia amp beat them in Australia In England 201718 series we lost but we know as team how close we cameIrfan PathanIrfanPathan Whenever the talk of Indian cricket captains will arise in test cricket imVkohli lsquos name will be up therenot only for results but the kind of impact he had as a captain Thank you ViratKohliSir Vivian Richardsivivianrichards Congratulations imVkohli on a stunning run as the Indian captain You can be very proud of what you have achieved so far and for sure your name will be up there among the best leaders in world cricketYuvraj SinghYUVSTRONG12 Itrsquos been a remarkable journey King Kohli imVkohli Very few have been able to achieve what you have Gave your all and played like a true champion each time May you grow from strength to strength Onwards and upwardsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever