Dubai: Backing Virat Kohli’s decision to step down as RCB captain, legendary South Africa pacer Dale Steyn feels Kohli will be able to focus on his batting particularly, at the peak time of his career.
Having already announced that he will not be leading India in T20Is post the T20 World Cup 2021, Virat Kohli on Sunday night dropped another bombshell. The 32-year-old, in an emotional video shared by the franchise on their social media on Sunday, said that he will step down as the captain of the team after the end of the IPL 2021 season. The announcement was made through a video posted by the franchise on social media, following an official statement.
“He’s been with RCB from the very beginning. I don’t know, as life goes on you start to prioritize things. He’s (Virat) got a young family right now and captaincy can weigh heavily on the brain, and your personal life can also heavily weigh on you,” said Steyn to T20 Time Out on ESPNcricinfo on Monday.
Steyn, who made his last appearance in the Indian Premier League(IPL) while playing for the Royal Challengers Banglore(RCB) in September 2020, reckoned that nobody doubted Kohli’s captaincy, adding that he was a fantastic player and that his decision should be respected.
“Maybe, relinquishing a little bit of that responsibility (captaincy) and just being able to focus on his batting is a good decision at this time of his career. We don’t doubt his captaincy. He is a fantastic leader and his personal achievements speak for themselves. So it’s really up to him as to what he wants to do so. Maybe it’s a good decision as the (T20) World Cup is around the corner. We could see the best of Virat coming out in the remaining of the IPL (games) and the World Cup.” Steyn added.
Virat has been captaining the side since the 2013 season in the IPL and he has led the franchise in 132 matches so far. Under Virat Kohli’s captaincy, the RCB team is yet to win a single title, which puts a lot of pressure on Kohli. However, the Bangalore-based franchise is looking to win their maiden title having made a strong start to the IPL 2021 season.
Steyn also hinted that Kohli could have taken the decision on captaincy to avoid criticism if he doesn’t perform in the IPL. “He may be trying to put out or extinguish some fires before they actually happen. Relinquishing the Indian captaincy, if he has 2-3 bad scores in the next couple of games in IPL, people might start questioning him whether he should give up the RCB captaincy. Before that comes into question, he may have decided ‘before we go down that road then you should say this is also part of my thinking’,” added Steyn.
In his statement declaring his commitment to RCB, Kohli stated that he will continue to play for RCB till his last game in IPL, Steyn said, “Doesn’t matter how good a player you are, you could see yourself walking (it’s the franchise owner’s call). I mean I’ve seen Chris Gayle leave the team but he’s not an Indian legend. We have also seen David Beckham leave Man United after playing for an entire lifespan and go and play for other teams. Cristiano Ronaldo recently returned to Man United, so you don’t know. You have these famous people who play for club teams for a long time. And, who knows Virat, who is originally from Delhi, might end up finishing with the Delhi franchise.” he asserted.
