Forgoing captaincy won’t slow down Kohli

Virat Kohli on Monday said it had been an "honour" to captain India's Twenty20 side as he ended an otherwise disappointing World Cup campaign on a winning note.

Kohli, who will continue to captain India in Test and ODI cricket, took over the T20 captaincy from MS Dhoni in 2017 and said it is time to manage the workload.

"It's been an honour, but things have to be kept in the right perspective. This was the right time for me to manage my workload," Kohli said.

"It's been six-seven years of intense cricket every time we take the field and it takes a lot out of you."

But the 33-year-old said his intensity on the field will remain the same. "That's never going to change. If I can't do that I will not play anymore," said Kohli.

"Even when I wasn't captain before I was always keen to see where the game is going. I'm not going to stand around and do nothing."

He has led the team to great heights in Test and white-ball cricket but critics have always pointed at his failure to land a World Cup triumph in either T20 or ODI cricket.

Earlier this year they were also beaten by New Zealand in the first ever World Test Championship final. The superstar batsman said his deputy Rohit Sharma had been overseeing matters going into the game.

"I was given the opportunity and I tried to do my best. But it's also time to create some space and move forward. I've been immensely proud of how the team has played."

Head coach Ravi Shastri also bid adieu to the team after working alongside Kohli for five years. Shastri, a former India all-rounder, said he believes the current side are "one of the greatest" of all time. "Sometimes in life, it's not about all you accomplish, it's about what you overcome," Shastri told Star Sports.