The most successful captain out of India’s 34 captains, Virat Kohli, announced his leave for captaincy on Jan. 15, 2022, after India lost a series of games to South Africa. Being a captain for eight years from 2014-2022, he is handing off the captaincy to KL Rahul who is set to be retained as India’s Test captain while Rohit Sharma continues to be India’s white-ball captain according to ABP.live.

With cricket being the seventh most popular game in the world 106 countries currently participate in playing cricket, such as India, England, South Africa, Australia, and more.  Cricket was started in England by the English and spread to many of the countries that they ruled and colonized. Cricket is a game similar to baseball in the U.S, played between two teams of eleven players each on a field at the center of which is a 22-yard pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. 

Virat Kohli started his career with the India National Team on June 20, 2011, with his first game being against the West Indies, though he actually started playing when he was nine years old for the West Delhi Cricket Academy. For me, Kohli leaving makes an impact, but at the same time, it doesn’t because I haven’t been watching cricket for a long time. Kohli was born to Prem Kohli and Saroj Kohli and has an older brother and sister. Kohli has played for many teams before he made it to the Indian National Cricket Team. I know that he was an impressive captain and player, and for as long as I watched cricket, he was my favorite player. Kohli is my favorite because he played for India, he was the best batter in my opinion and it was amazing to watch someone score so many points which made me like him as a player even more. 

He started playing by substituting for other great players, just to become one himself in the years to come. It seems sad to know he isn’t going to be captain, but not too sad because I know that won’t be gone completely. Until 2012, which is when he started rising through the ranks and became the vice-captain for the 2012 Asia Cup. 2 years later he became captain of the team in 2014 after former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, due to an injury he left and Kohli took the reins for being captain. Last year, during Covid, I watched many cricket matches with my dad. I used to cheer, even though I knew no one could hear me cheering for them. 

During an interview, Kohli says, “You don’t need to be a captain to be a leader.” Now that he has stepped down from being a captain, he will focus more on batting so that he can bring more to the team. Kohli was a legendary captain and player, he is the most successful captain for India and ranked as the 11th best batter of all time. Kohli has led the India cricket team to 68 matches of which 40 were won, he is the second-highest runscorer as captain in T20Is (Twenty20 International; a form of cricket) and he has the highest win percentage of 59 percent. 

“I always dreamt of holding the bat and winning games for India. That was my inspiration to take up cricket.” – Virat Kohli

Works Cited

“Best-Ever Test Batting ICC Player Rankings.” All Time ICC Test Batting Rankings : Best Ever Test Batsmen, www.relianceiccrankings.com/alltime/test/batting/.

Bhattacharyya, Wriddhaayan. “Virat Kohli: The Captain of All Captains.” Sportstar, Sportstar, 5 Feb. 2022, sportstar.thehindu.com/magazine/kohli-quits-test-captaincy-record-stats-team-india/article38290850.ece.

“Cricket.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Jan. 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket.

“History of Cricket.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Jan. 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_cricket#:~:text=e-,Origin,end of the 16th-century.

“List of India National Cricket Captains.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 23 Jan. 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_India_national_cricket_captains.

PTI / Updated: Jan 31, 2022. “No More the Captain, Virat Kohli Talks about Contributing More as a Batter: Cricket News – Times of India.” The Times of India, TOI, timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/news/one-doesnt-need-to-be-captain-to-be-a-leader-within-a-group-virat-kohli/articleshow/89245454.cms.

“Virat Kohli.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Jan. 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virat_Kohli.

Vivek, GS. “KL Rahul To Be Next Indian Team Test Captain After Virat Kohli’s Resignation: Sources.” News, ABP Live, 16 Jan. 2022, news.abplive.com/sports/kl-rahul-to-be-next-indian-team-test-captain-after-virat-kohli-s-resignation-sources-1506783.