'Virat Kohli Was Forced To Relinquish Captaincy'

Amid the ongoing hue and cry and speculations over the reason behind Virat Kohli leaving captaincy, former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has made some shocking comments.

Shoaib, who is presently in Oman, claimed that Virat Kohli did not relinquish the captaincy himself and he was forced to do so. "He has achieved more than any other cricketer in the world. Kohli now needs to leave bitterness behind and move forward to achieve big," he said.

"Bigger problems are for bigger players. He is a great cricketer and I think he is going to come out of this," said the former fast bowler.

#WATCH | Virat Kohli did not relinquish the captaincy himself. He was forced to do so... He is a great cricketer. I think he is going to come out of this: Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar in Muscat, Oman pic.twitter.com/jbXU5My2bj

— ANI (@ANI) January 23, 2022

Former manager of the Indian Cricket team and ex-IPL Chairman, Ranjib Biswal had also earlier claimed that Virat Kohli resigned from the Indian Test captainship following discontentment with BCCI.

"After removing Virat as the skipper from the ODIs following his resignation from T20 team captaincy, the board had given him a clear signal to step down from the red-ball captainship," Biswal had said.

Making the announcement, Kohli had earlier issued a statement and said, "... I've done the job with absolute honesty and left nothing out there. Every thing has to come to a halt at some stage and for me as Test Captain of India, it's now..."