‘He might have been feeling suffocated’, says Saba Karim on Virat Kohli's decision to quit Test captaincy

India suffered a seven-wicket defeat against South Africa in the Cape Town Test, and lost the three-match red-ball series by 2-1. On Saturday, January 15, just a day after his side lost the Test series 1-2 against the Proteas, Virat Kohli announced on his official Twitter handle that he has decided to step down as India’s Test captain. 

Kohli had relinquished his T20I captaincy role after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup 2021. Later, ahead of the South Africa tour, the 33-year-old was replaced with Rohit Sharma as the ODI captain as the national team selectors preferred a single skipper for the white-ball format. 

Meanwhile, Saba Karim has stated that the pressure was building on Kohli, and the right-hand batsman might have felt suffocated after the series of unfortunate events in Team India.

“It is very difficult to say what is the reason behind this. The picture we are getting to see in the last four-five months, it means the pressure was building on him. He might have been feeling suffocated because of which he might have ended his relationship with the captaincy.

“Virat Kohli is a person who doesn't take a step back from fighting. I agree India lost the Test series in South Africa, where they were expected to win, but he is always ready for such challenges. It is the first time he has taken such a decision on his own,” Karim told India news. 

Karim reckoned that he did not expect so many changes in Indian cricket in a short span of time. 

"I didn't think so many changes will happen so soon. The first setback was when Kohli himself decided that he will not do the T20 captaincy. We had spoken about the timing that time as well that the World Cup was about to happen and the team had been selected, for Kohli to take such a decision was extremely astonishing.

“The selectors then decided that Kohli will not remain the captain in ODI cricket as well. So too many changes have happened too quickly. The first change was initiated by Kohli himself but after that, the selectors have had a role in the change and in the end, again this personal decision from Kohli,” Karim said.