Official: Virat Kohli removed as ODI captain by BCCI

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Wednesday that Rohit Sharma would be replacing Virat Kohli as the captain of the T20I as well as the ODI formats.

The BCCI made the announcement while putting out a press release revealing the Test squad for the South Africa tour. “The All-India Senior Selection Committee also decided to name Mr Rohit Sharma as the Captain of the ODI & T20I teams going forward,” the board’s tweet read. Apart from this, Rohit Sharma has also been elevated as the vice-captain of the Test format, replacing Ajinkya Rahane. The development comes nearly three months after Kohli informed his decision to step down from T20I captaincy due to immense workload.

However, the batsman’s statement suggested that he was still keen on leading the country in the ODI and Test formats. “Understanding workload is a very important thing and considering my immense workload over the last 8-9 years playing all 3 formats and captaining regularly for last 5-6 years, I feel I need to give myself space to be fully ready to lead the Indian team in Test and ODI cricket,” Kohli had stated in September.