Virat Kohli is having a very forgettable run with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League as his team has suffered three consecutive defeats to start their campaign. Amid this debacle, the RCB skipper has asked MS Dhoni to captain India for one last time at the ICC World Cup 2019.
This news comes barely hours after RCB suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of SunRisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. Kohli's team had earlier suffered defeats to Chennai Super Kings in their opening fixture and then to Mumbai Indians in their subsequent match.
A third defeat on the bounce was too much for Kohli to take and he has said that he does not want to continue as the Indian captain. "I do not want to continue as the captain of India at the moment. I believe MS Dhoni is better placed to lead the team in the World Cup. It is a big tournament and comes once in four years. We want to win the World Cup and I believe we have the team to win it," Kohli said.
"I may have read the pitch wrong against SRH as I thought it would play slow in the first half but Warner and Bairstow took the game away from us. We did not bat well and we have not batted well in the tournament overall. I need time to think about my batting too as I have not scored runs. As captain, I lost the series against Australia too. Hence I feel MSD should lead the team as I want to do what is best for my country," Kohli added.
The last month has not been good for Kohli as he lost his first home series as captain when Australia defeated his Indian team 3-2 in the ODI series. India was whitewashed 2-0 in the home T20 series that was played prior to the ODIs.
RCB has also been in poor form as in the opening contest the team got all out for just 70 runs against CSK. In their second match, RCB performed much better but lost to Mumbai Indians at the very end. But the result could have been different had the umpire spotted Lasith Malinga overstepping in the last ball. If the umpire had seen it, he would have called a no-ball giving RCB a chance to win the match as they needed 7 runs prior to the last ball being bowled.
"I think my luck is not siding by me. In cricket and to win big tournaments, somewhere down the line one must get lucky. MS is better on that front. All the factors combined, I have decided to ask him to walk out as India skipper for one last tournament," said Kohli.
So will India have a new captain on June 5 at the Rose Bowl in Southampton when they take on South Africa in the opening World Cup match? Well, the future is difficult to predict but what we can say for the moment is - Happy April Fools' Day. This story means no harm and is only meant to be a good-natured April Fools' prank. We hope you had a laugh and here's wishing you a wonderful day.
