Virat Kohli stepped down as the Test captain after India’s three-match series against South Africa away from home. The visitors suffered a 1-2 defeat in the series.
The Men in Blue will now battle it out against the Proteas in a three-match ODI fixtures and the side will be led by KL Rahul as Rohit Sharma who was earlier appointed as the limited-overs skipper after Kohli’s resignation from the post was ruled out of the tour due to injury.
Rahul’s deputy will be pacer Jasprit Bumrah for the upcoming three matches. Talking about Kohli’s decision, Bumrah has said that the players respect whatever the right-handed batsman has decided and also added that the side had enjoyed playing under him.
“It’s his decision. He knows his body. He knows his frame of mind. We respect that. It’s been a pleasure to play under his captaincy. I made my debut under him,” Bumrah said in the pre-ODIs press conference.
“He brought in energy. He brought in the fitness culture. He was driven. Everybody moved in one direction under his leadership. He has been immense and he will still be immense with his inputs,” he added.
“It’s been 7 years of hard work, toil and relentless perseverance everyday to take the team to the right direction. I’ve done my job with absolute honesty and left nothing out there. Everything has to come to a halt at some stage and for me as Test captain of India, it’s now,” Kohli had said in a lengthy social media post.