On Saturday, Virat Kohli announced his resignation as the Test captain and it has left the cricketing fraternity in shock. It perhaps was a bittersweet end to Kohli’s captaincy stint, which saw the Test contingent scale new heights in home and away conditions. The 33-year-old Kohli signed off as India’s most successful captain in the format, with 40 wins in 68 Test matches. He helped the Indian team to win a historic Test series win in Australia and took them to the top of the ICC Test rankings.

Virat Kohli also holds the record for most Test appearances as India Test captain (68). The cricket fraternity including congratulated him for his successful career as the captain, and former India skipper Kapil Dev also welcomed Kohli’s move. Kapil said that Kohli wasn’t “enjoying” the captaincy and it must have been a tough decision to make.

During a recent chat with Mid-day, Kapil Dev said, “I welcome Virat’s decision to quit the Test captaincy. He was going through a rough time ever since he gave up the T20 captaincy. He has looked tense in recent times, appeared to be under a lot of pressure. So giving up the captaincy was an option in order to play freely. He opted for that.”

WATCH – Teammates Of Dewald Brevis Terms His Baby AB During The U19 World Cup

He further added, “He is a mature man. I am sure he must have thought hard before taking this important decision. Maybe, he wasn’t enjoying the captaincy. We have to support him and wish him luck.”

In his heydays, Kapil Dev played under the leadership of players younger than him like Krishnamachari Srikkanth and Mohammad Azharuddin and he wants Kohli, the batter, to thrive under the new skipper. Last month, Kohli was replaced by Rohit Sharma as the ODI captain, which eventually resulted in Kohli’s exit from Test responsibility as well. It’s yet to be seen whether Rohit will lead the Test team for India’s next series against Sri Lanka at home.

ALSO READ: Mohammad Nabi Decides To Rest From ODIs For Giving A Chance To The Youngsters

Explaining the same, Kapil Dev said, “Even Sunil Gavaskar played under me. I played under K Srikkanth and Azharuddin. I had no ego. Virat will have to give up his ego and play under a young cricketer. This will help him and Indian cricket. Virat should guide the new captain, new players. We cannot lose Virat, the batsman…no way.”