India’s star batter and former captain Virat Kohli has revealed the reason behind quittting T20I cricket. Following India’s T20 World Cup title victory in June last year, he was among the three players from the nation who decided to leave the format. Apart from Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja were the players who put curtains on their T20I career. In a recent interview, Kohli, who plays for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League, has opened up on his T20I retirement. He said that he wanted to leave enough time for the new batch of players ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup.

The star batter was speaking on RCB Podcast‘s upcoming episode, a trailer of which was released on the team’s official X handle on Friday.

“I do not think things have changed for me in any way. The decision (to leave T20Is) was taken purely understanding that there is a new set of players who are more than ready and they need time, they need a 2-year cycle to evolve, handle pressure, play in different parts of the world, and play enough games to the point where when the World Cup comes, they feel like they are ready,” said Kohli.

Kohli led RCB from 2013 to 2021 but failed to win the side’s first-ever trophy. Under his leadership, RCB played the final of IPL 2016 but ended up losing it.

Opening up on his loyalty for the franchise, he said, “The love that I have received from the fans, I do not think any silverware or any trophy can come close to that.”

In the same interview, Kohli recalled how former South African wicketkeeper-batter Mark Boucher had an impact on him during his initial years in IPL.

“Out of all players I played with initially, Boucher had the biggest impact on me. He figured out what my weaknesses could be, If I wanted to go to the next level, this is what I need to do, without me asking him anything. He told me that ‘when I comes to commentate in India three-four years from now and I do not see you playing for India, you would do a disservice to yourself. So he really stunned me with the conversations he had with me,” said Kohli.

During the ongoing IPL, Virat is among the top run-getters with 443 runs in 10 innings at an average of 63.29 and a strike rate of almost 139. He has slammed six fifties and has a best score of 73 not out.

RCB are at the second spot in the table with seven wins and three losses, and they will host Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at home on Saturday.