Virat Kohli: Why quitting was the only option for ‘cornered’ captain

Virat Kohli has stepped down as captain of India men's Test team.

He captained India in a record-breaking 68 Tests, winning 40 matches - the fourth best record of any Test captain in history.

Some may have been surprised when he stepped down as captain of the men's Test team on Saturday, but the signs were clear before the team even left for South Africa.

Few captains have taken on the Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) in India the way Kohli did - he virtually called its president a liar as he contradicted what Sourav Ganguly had said about Kohli being asked to stay on as the Twenty20 captain when he decided to quit that format.

India losing the series 1-2 to a lower ranked team meant the board could claim legitimacy for its action.

When Kohli was an over-aggressive, self-centred teenager, the popular feeling was that unless he mellowed, he had no chance of playing for India.

Within a generation, the Indian team became aggressive, self-confident, wedded to the concept of victory and an uncompromising bunch of players who gave as good as they got.

While announcing his resignation, Kohli said that in his cricket, he "left nothing out there".

If Sachin Tendulkar was the poster boy of the economically self-confident India, Kohli became the poster boy of the psychologically self-confident one.

At Cape Town, in his final Test as captain, Kohli made a show of walking up to the stump microphone and expressing his disappointment at a decision taken off the field by the review system.

Yet, there is much to be said for the positives: the self-belief and aggression, the spirit of one-for-all, all-for-one in the team.

Yet, it is interesting that when Kohli returned from Australia after the first Test, stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane's team appeared less belligerent.

And his support for Test cricket above all other formats too.

It's useful to know that Kohli's boys will have Kohli in their corner.

Kohli steps down as India Test captain.