\u201cEverything has to come to a halt at some stage and for me as Test captain of India, it\u2019s now\u201d
\nnews desk
\nislamabad
\nVirat Kohli shocked the Indian cricket world on Saturday by abruptly resigning as the national side\u2019s Test captain, after leading the team to memorable overseas victories in his seven years in charge.
\nThe 33-year-old, considered one of the best batsmen of his era, took to Twitter to announce his decision a day after India\u2019s 2-1 series defeat in South Africa.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s been seven years of hard work, toil and relentless perseverance everyday to take the team in the right direction. I have done the job with absolute honesty and left nothing out there,\u201d Kohli said in his statement.
\n\u201cEverything has come to a halt at some stage and for me as test captain of India, it\u2019s now. There have been many ups and also some downs along the journey, but never has there been a lack of effort or lack of belief.\u201d
\nThe feisty top order batsman has had a difficult relationship with the Indian cricket board (BCCI) since stepping down as the T20 captain after last year\u2019s World Cup.
\nThat cost him the one-day captaincy as well, with the BCCI installing Rohit Sharma as captain in both the short formats.
\nKohli, who took over the reins in 2014, led India in a record 68 test matches, winning 40 and losing 17.
\n\u201cBCCI congratulates #TeamIndia captain @imVkohli for his admirable leadership qualities that took the Test team to unprecedented heights,\u201d the Indian board wrote on Twitter.
\nBCCI officials were not immediately available to confirm who would take over as India\u2019s next test captain, although opener KL Rahul\u2019s name has already started doing the rounds.
\nThe board\u2019s secretary Jay Shah wrote on Twitter after Kohli\u2019s surprise announcement: \u201cVirat turned the team into a ruthless fit unit that performed admirably both in India and away. The Test wins in Australia & England have been special.\u201d
\n\u2018I have no comment to make\u2019: Kohli on controversial DRS decision
\nIndian captain Virat Kohli said on Friday his side have \u201cmoved on\u201d from the controversy over an overturned decision during the third Test defeat to South Africa, to lose the series 2-1, at Newlands.
\nKohli, 33, and two team-mates were caught on the stump microphone complaining after home captain Dean Elgar survived on review after being given out leg before wicket at a crucial stage on the third afternoon.
\n\u201cI have no comment to make,\u201d he told a press conference after the seven wicket defeat in Cape Town.
\n\u201cWe understood what happened on the field and people on the outside don\u2019t know if we had picked up three wickets there that probably would have been the moment that changed the game.\u201d
\nVice-captain KL Rahul and bowler Ravichandran Ashwin were also heard on the microphone.
\n\u201cThe reality of the situation is that we did not apply enough pressure on them for longer periods of time,\u201d said Kohli.
\n\u201cThat one moment seems very nice and very exciting to make a controversy out of but honestly I am not interested in making a controversy.
\n\u201cIt was just a moment that passed and we moved on from it and we kept focusing on the game and tried to pick up wickets.\u201d Host broadcaster SuperSport meanwhile said it had no control over the Decision Review System (DRS) used in the series.
\n\u201cSuperSport notes comments made by certain members of the Indian cricket team,\u201d it told AFP.
\n\u201cHawk-Eye is an independent service provider, approved by the ICC and their technology has been accepted for many years as an integral part of DRS.
\n\u201cSuperSport does not have any control over the Hawk-Eye technology.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cEverything has to come to a halt at some stage and for me as Test captain of India, it\u2019s now\u201d news desk islamabad Virat Kohli shocked the Indian cricket world on Saturday by abruptly resigning as the national side\u2019s Test captain, after leading the team to memorable overseas victories in his seven years in charge. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":239091,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[3049,3050,1697],"class_list":{"0":"post-239077","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-step-down","9":"tag-test-captain","10":"tag-virat-kohli"},"yoast_head":"\n