{"id":10974,"date":"2026-05-20T01:13:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T01:13:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit"},"modified":"2026-05-20T01:13:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T01:13:29","slug":"kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit","title":{"rendered":"Kohli Opens Up on Draining India Captaincy Decision After 2021 Exit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>India batting icon Virat Kohli has described the weight of captaining the national team, saying he was left \u201ccompletely spent\u201d when he stepped away from leadership between 2021 and 2022. The former India skipper, who continues to hold the record as the country\u2019s most successful Test captain with 40 wins from 68 matches, said the strain came not just from strategy and responsibility, but from having to carry the batting burden while also steering the side.<\/p>\n<h2>Kohli on the toll of dual responsibility<\/h2>\n<p>Kohli said that during his captaincy spell, he gradually became the central figure for both batting output and decision-making. He explained that the constant focus\u2014on his own performances and on the team\u2019s outcomes\u2014left him drained by the time his stint ended.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Kohli felt he became the \u201cfocal point\u201d of India\u2019s batting unit and then the focal point of leadership.<\/li>\n<li>He admitted he underestimated how heavy the combined load would be in everyday life.<\/li>\n<li>He said his drive to keep Indian cricket at the top meant he didn\u2019t fully register the toll at the time.<\/li>\n<li>By the time he relinquished captaincy, he described having \u201cnothing left in the tank\u201d to give, saying he was \u201ccompletely consumed\u201d by the role.<\/li>\n<li>He summed it up as being \u201cgruesome.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Balancing form, pressure and results<\/h2>\n<p>The 37-year-old also spoke about the relentless pressure of matching personal form with team results. Kohli said the scrutiny never paused\u2014if India won but he failed to score runs, questions followed his batting; if he did score but the team still lost, the focus shifted to the final result.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>He said managing expectations was difficult: wins without runs brought performance questions.<\/li>\n<li>He added that scoring well but losing would still trigger discussion around outcomes.<\/li>\n<li>As a result, he described constantly juggling both areas while trying to handle the situation as best as possible.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Captaincy highlights and Test comeback context<\/h2>\n<p>Kohli\u2019s comments came as a reflection of his overall captaincy impact and the subsequent personal challenges he faced. He led India to major overseas Test wins and consistent qualification for knockout stages in ICC white-ball competitions, including the 2017 Champions Trophy final and the 2019 ODI World Cup semi-final.<\/p>\n<p>After dominating Test cricket from 2016 to 2019, Kohli endured a lean period in 2021 and 2022, averaging 28.21 and 26.5 in those years respectively. He then returned to form in 2023, scoring 671 runs in eight Tests at an average of 55.91.<\/p>\n<h2>Support from Rahul Dravid and Vikram Rathour<\/h2>\n<p>Kohli credited former India head coach Rahul Dravid and former batting coach Vikram Rathour for helping him through a difficult stretch in Test cricket. He said the pair looked after him in a way that strengthened his belief and motivation to work hard again.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking with warmth, Kohli said that when he sees them or meets them, he thanks them from the heart because they took care of him and made him feel that he wanted to play, perform, and grind through the hard work. He also highlighted how their support reshaped his mindset\u2014even in the nets, he feels youngsters watching and judges his own standards accordingly.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Kohli said Dravid and Rathour were central to his 2023 turnaround in Test cricket.<\/li>\n<li>He described their care as nurturing, saying it made him want to go out and \u201cgrind it out.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>He said their influence helped him stay aware of his example to younger players in training.<\/li>\n<li>He explained that if he has poor sessions, he imagines youngsters thinking: \u201cThis is the guy who\u2019s been playing for 20 years.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>He added that this thought stays at the back of his mind, pushing him to keep standards high.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Understanding the mental side<\/h2>\n<p>Kohli further revealed that both Dravid and Rathour understood the mental demands of elite Test cricket and supported him during the challenging phase. He said Dravid\u2019s experience at the highest level gave him a strong grasp of what was being felt, while Rathour\u2019s long involvement in the sport meant they could relate to his mindset. Kohli said they looked after him mentally as much as they coached his game.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Kohli said Dravid understood his state of mind and had done so \u201cway better than a lot of people\u201d at the top level.<\/li>\n<li>He noted Rathour\u2019s long association with the game and said they could relate to what he was going through.<\/li>\n<li>Kohli said the support was specifically mental, adding that they \u201creally took care\u201d of him in that sense.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Kohli made the remarks at the third edition of the RCB Innovation Lab\u2019s Indian Sports Summit on Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>India batting icon Virat Kohli has described the weight of captaining the national team, saying he was left \u201ccompletely spent\u201d when he stepped away from&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":10972,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"Virat Kohli on India Captaincy Strain After 2021 Exit","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Virat Kohli reveals how captaining India left him \u201ccompletely spent\u201d after the 2021 exit, balancing strategy and batting pressure as captain.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Virat Kohli on India Captaincy Strain After 2021 Exit<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Virat Kohli reveals how captaining India left him \u201ccompletely spent\u201d after the 2021 exit, balancing strategy and batting pressure as captain.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Virat Kohli on India Captaincy Strain After 2021 Exit\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Virat Kohli reveals how captaining India left him \u201ccompletely spent\u201d after the 2021 exit, balancing strategy and batting pressure as captain.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"1Win India\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-20T01:13:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/you-win-they-ask-about-4d5e.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1233\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"682\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Arjun Patel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Arjun Patel\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Arjun Patel\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9aac810730409fd3131f08f34023f33e\"},\"headline\":\"Kohli Opens Up on Draining India Captaincy Decision After 2021 Exit\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-20T01:13:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit\"},\"wordCount\":764,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/you-win-they-ask-about-4d5e.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"IPL\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit\",\"name\":\"Virat Kohli on India Captaincy Strain After 2021 Exit\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/you-win-they-ask-about-4d5e.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-20T01:13:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9aac810730409fd3131f08f34023f33e\"},\"description\":\"Virat Kohli reveals how captaining India left him \u201ccompletely spent\u201d after the 2021 exit, balancing strategy and batting pressure as captain.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/you-win-they-ask-about-4d5e.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/you-win-they-ask-about-4d5e.webp\",\"width\":1233,\"height\":682},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Kohli Opens Up on Draining India Captaincy Decision After 2021 Exit\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/\",\"name\":\"1Win India\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9aac810730409fd3131f08f34023f33e\",\"name\":\"Arjun Patel\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3f44e79409232be03c88b435f2c295c5262fa91dfa5e23870d29241063bbaf5d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3f44e79409232be03c88b435f2c295c5262fa91dfa5e23870d29241063bbaf5d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3f44e79409232be03c88b435f2c295c5262fa91dfa5e23870d29241063bbaf5d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Arjun Patel\"},\"description\":\"Cricket analyst and sports writer with over 10 years of experience covering international and domestic matches. Specializes in match predictions, player performance analysis, and data-driven insights, with a strong focus on the Indian Premier League\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/author\\\/arjunpatel\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Virat Kohli on India Captaincy Strain After 2021 Exit","description":"Virat Kohli reveals how captaining India left him \u201ccompletely spent\u201d after the 2021 exit, balancing strategy and batting pressure as captain.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Virat Kohli on India Captaincy Strain After 2021 Exit","og_description":"Virat Kohli reveals how captaining India left him \u201ccompletely spent\u201d after the 2021 exit, balancing strategy and batting pressure as captain.","og_url":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit","og_site_name":"1Win India","article_published_time":"2026-05-20T01:13:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1233,"height":682,"url":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/you-win-they-ask-about-4d5e.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Arjun Patel","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Arjun Patel","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit"},"author":{"name":"Arjun Patel","@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/#\/schema\/person\/9aac810730409fd3131f08f34023f33e"},"headline":"Kohli Opens Up on Draining India Captaincy Decision After 2021 Exit","datePublished":"2026-05-20T01:13:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit"},"wordCount":764,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/you-win-they-ask-about-4d5e.webp","articleSection":["IPL"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit","url":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit","name":"Virat Kohli on India Captaincy Strain After 2021 Exit","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/you-win-they-ask-about-4d5e.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-20T01:13:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/#\/schema\/person\/9aac810730409fd3131f08f34023f33e"},"description":"Virat Kohli reveals how captaining India left him \u201ccompletely spent\u201d after the 2021 exit, balancing strategy and batting pressure as captain.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/you-win-they-ask-about-4d5e.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/you-win-they-ask-about-4d5e.webp","width":1233,"height":682},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/kohli-opens-up-on-draining-india-captaincy-decision-after-2021-exit#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Kohli Opens Up on Draining India Captaincy Decision After 2021 Exit"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/#website","url":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/","name":"1Win India","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/#\/schema\/person\/9aac810730409fd3131f08f34023f33e","name":"Arjun Patel","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f44e79409232be03c88b435f2c295c5262fa91dfa5e23870d29241063bbaf5d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f44e79409232be03c88b435f2c295c5262fa91dfa5e23870d29241063bbaf5d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f44e79409232be03c88b435f2c295c5262fa91dfa5e23870d29241063bbaf5d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Arjun Patel"},"description":"Cricket analyst and sports writer with over 10 years of experience covering international and domestic matches. Specializes in match predictions, player performance analysis, and data-driven insights, with a strong focus on the Indian Premier League","url":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/author\/arjunpatel"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10974\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}