Mumbai† Virat Kohlicwho stepped down as the Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper after the 2021 IPL season, said he took that call to give himself some space and manage his workload.
Kohli had announced his decision to leave the IPL captaincy after saying the T20 World Cup will be his last tournament as India skipper in the shortest format.
He was later removed as ODI captain before leaving the lead role in five-day format.
“I’m not one to hold onto things more than I should. Even if I know I can do a lot more, if I’m not going to enjoy the process I’m not going to do it,” Kohli, one of today’s greats, said on “The RCB Podcast” about dropping the captaincy.
The former skipper of RCB and India claimed that it is very difficult for people to understand what a cricketer thinks when making such decisions.
“Because it’s very hard for people to understand your decisions unless they’re in your situation. From the outside, people have their own expectations Oh! How did that happen? We are so shocked’,” added Kohli, who is about to play his 100th Test.
“There is nothing to be alarmed about. I explain to people, I wanted some space and I wanted to manage my workload and that’s where the story ends.”
From the inaugural IPL to last season, RCB has never won the cash-rich tournament.
Buffing all the conversations people were having about his decision, Kohli cleared the air and said, “There was really nothing at all. I keep my life very simple and basic, when I wanted to make a decision I made a decision and I made it known.
“I didn’t want to think about it and think about it for another year. That wouldn’t have done anything to me, nothing to the environment I’m part of. Quality of life is something very important to me. And the quality of cricket is something very important to me.
“Over a period of time you want to do what you do day in and day out and you want to do as much as possible, but in the end you have to realize that quality is much more important than quantity,” emphasizes Kohli.
The elegant batter of the highest order also emphasized that he has always been himself.
“Quantity in hard work, but quality in execution. That’s the key. If you go for quantity in execution, you will get a burnout. If I can’t be myself in everyday life and I can’t be myself on the field, I will change something.
“Because that’s who I am. That’s why I am where I am. And that’s why people can connect with me on some level. My loved ones, people close to me, my friends they’ve connected with me because of that factor, because I’ve always been myself,” he signed off.
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