Virat Kohli stepped down as India's Test skipper on Saturday, a day after the team suffered a series defeat against the Proteas in South Africa.
The 33-year-old charismatic cricketer took to social media to announce the decision in the evening, thanking the all-powerful Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), former head coach Ravi Shastri and MS Dhoni, his predecessor.
"It's been 7 years of hard work, toil and relentless perseverance everyday to take the team in the right direction. I've done the job with absolute honesty and left nothing out there. Every thing has to come to a halt at some stage and for me as Test Captain of India, it's now," Kohli wrote on Instagram.
"I want to thank BCCI for giving me the opportunity to lead my country for such a long period of time and more importantly to all the teammates who bought into the vision for the team from day one and never gave up in any situation," Kohli said in his statement that he later tweeted.
The BCCI, on its part, thanked Kohli for his "admirable leadership qualities" and also retweeted his statement.
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"BCCI congratulates #TeamIndia captain @imVkohli for his admirable leadership qualities that took the Test team to unprecedented heights. He led India in 68 matches and has been the most successful captain with 40 wins," the Board tweeted.
In December last year, ace batter Rohit Sharma replaced Kohli as India's full-time white-ball captain. A month before, Kohli quit as India's T20 international captain.
A right-handed top-order batsman, Kohli is regarded as one of the best contemporary batsmen in the world. He had been the national cricket team's captain since 2013. Since October 2017, he has been the top-ranked ODI batsman in the world.
In 2018, Time magazine named Kohli one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2020, he became the only cricketer in the world to feature in Forbes list of the top 100 highest-paid athletes in the world with an estimated earnings of USD 26 million.