Virat Kohli Steps Down As Indian Men's Test Team Captain, Exits As Country's Most Successful Skipper

Virat Kohli has stepped down as captain of the Indian men's Test cricket team. Kohli made the announcement on social media.

"7 years of hard work, toil and relentless perseverance everyday to take the team in the right direction", the time had come for him to step aside. Every thing has to come to a halt at some stage and for me as Test Captain of India, it's now," Kohli said.

Kohli took over as Test captain from MS Dhoni and presided over a period of domination where India became the No 1 ranked Test team.

Kohli captained India in 68 Tests winning 40 matches — both a national record. Only Graeme Smith, Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh won more Tests as captains.

Kohli captained India to their first Test series win in Australia as well as led the team to the final of the inaugural World Test Championship final.

Rohit Sharma, who was supposed to be Kohli's deputy in the recently concluded Test series, is favoured to succeed Kohli. However, reports also suggest that KL Rahul could become the new Test captain.