Ravi Shastri suggested Virat Kohli to give up ODI and T20I captaincy: Reports

As per a report, the suggestion wasn't meant to belittle Kohli but to inspire him to continue as a top batsman in world cricket. But Kohli only opted to relinquish from T20 leadership and ignored Shastri's advice of also leaving the ODI captaincy.

Team India skipper Virat Kohli with coach Ravi Shastri (Source: Twitter)

Team India chief coach Ravi Shastri had suggested to Virat Kohli to quit the white ball captaincy altogether, which includes ODIs, and to focus on his batting while continuing to lead the nation in Test cricket, reports said.

According to India Ahead, the suggestion wasn't meant to belittle Kohli but to inspire him to continue as a top batsman in world cricket. But Kohli only opted to relinquish from T20 leadership and ignored Shastri's advice of also leaving the ODI captaincy.

"The talk about Kohli's captaincy started after India won the Australian series without their regular captain. It also indicates that Kohli may have to let go the ODI captaincy at some point before the 2023 if things don't go as planned."

A BCCI official was quoted as saying that, "Shastri had spoken to Kohli around six months ago. But Kohli didn't listen to Shastri. He is still keen to lead India in ODIs and that is why he only decided to let go of the T20 captaincy. Even the board was discussing how Kohli could be utilised more as a batsman. That is because he has a lot left as a player even now."

Meanwhile, Virat Kohli on Thursday (September 16) announced that he will step down from the captaincy position in T20Is after the upcoming World Cup, which is scheduled to start next month in Dubai. The cricketer confirmed the development on Instagram and left a note thanking everyone for the support.

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In all likelihood, opener and Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma will take over the reins from Kohli.

The decision comes when Kohli is going through a phase where he is unable to convert those starts into a big score and has not hit a century since 2019. 

Kohli has played 90 T20Is, in which he amassed 3159 runs which include 28 half-centuries. The 32-year-old batsman has led India in 45 of those matches, out of which his team won 27 and lost 14. He has a winning percentage of 65.11.