Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting made a big reveal on Monday about Virat Kohli’s decision to leave the T20I captaincy, which he announced back in September, ahead of India’s T20 World Cup campaign in the UAE.

Speaking to former cricketer Isa Guha in the first episode of ICC Review, Ponting revealed that he had spoken to the 33-year-old in the first leg of the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) season, which takes place in April. On September 9 and May 2, when matches were postponed as India’s Covid fears grew, Kohli had spoken of quitting the white captaincy. That means Kohli made up his mind five months before the official announcement on Twitter.

Ponting’s revelation came when he expressed the shock of Kohli’s call to Test captaincy as he spoke enthusiastically about Test cricket during his discussions with the Indian batsman during IPL 2021.

“Yes, it did (surprise me),” Pontin said. “Probably the main reason is that I had a chat and a good catch-up with Virat before the first part of the IPL (2021) was postponed.

“He was talking about leaving white-ball cricket (from captain) and his passion for continuing to be Test match captain. He just loved and cherished this job and that position very much. Obviously, India Test team has achieved under him. Great achievement, I listened, really, really surprised.

“You only have to watch him on the field for an hour of the day to understand his passion for the job and role and how much he wants the team to win and how much he wants the best in Indian cricket. “

A month after the T20 World Cup, Kohli was removed from the ODI captaincy and subsequently sparked a huge controversy in Indian cricket. Later in January, a day after India’s 2-1 Test series defeat in South Africa, Kohli announced on Twitter his decision to step down as Test captain.

The legendary cricketer then tried to decipher the reasoning behind Kohli’s call, admitting that India has been the most difficult team in the world to captain due to huge pressure from fans.

“I was shocked, but then I started thinking about other things, even my own time as captain. I’ve said publicly that I probably thought I played a few years longer than I should have in hindsight. I think I might have Captain has been a few years longer than I should have been.

“So I think international cricket captains and even coaches have a shelf life. Virat has been there for almost seven years. If any country in the world is the hardest to captain, it’s probably India because ‘the game is popular,’ Every Indian loves to see the fate of Indian cricket teams, whether they are good or bad. You weigh all these things. “

Complete News Source : Hindustan Times