IPL: Steyn and Parthiv back Kohli's decision to step down as skipper after 2021 season
Sep 21, 2021
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 21 : Former Proteas pacer Dale Steyn believes that it is probably the right time for Virat Kohli to step aside from T20 captaincy and focus purely on his batting.
Kohli announced last week that he would step down as India's T20I captain after the upcoming T20 World Cup and a few days later, he announced that he would also give up leadership of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) after the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
"You see the way that he plays, he's involved in everything, whether he's in Test matches when he's standing at first slip or even if he's at the cover, he wants the ball immediately when it goes to the keeper, he always wants to be involved. But I think sometimes now in this COVID time maybe as Parthiv referred to bubble-life, his family that he's got," Steyn said on Star Sports' Live Feed of Select Dugout'.
"It's a lot of responsibility -- and playing for RCB before -- you see Virat, he's in every advert and every meeting; he's just so busy. So maybe it is the right time for him to just put this aside and focus purely on his batting," he added.
Speaking about Virat's decision, former India wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel said: "I think he looked more emotional than happy. I think when you're playing for one franchise for so many years, you get that emotional connect which was there in RCB. I think RCB actually invested in Virat Kohli's talent in 2008 and then showed a lot of trust in him as well because if you look at his and RCB's journey, it has been a rollercoaster one."
"But yeah, he might be relieved because see moving around from one bubble to another can take a load on you and he has spoken about the workload and intensity, which he plays with. I think every practice session, every match session or gym session, he does it with full intensity and that's something I'm sure he must've thought about," he added.
After stumbling to a nine-wicket loss against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Director of Cricket and head coach Mike Hesson said that skipper Virat Kohli's announcement to step down after the ongoing season did not impact the team's performance.
