Former India coach Ravi Shastri thinks Virat Kohli has taken a “smart decision” by giving up captaincy, saying it “could be a blessing in disguise” for him.

“The pressures of captaincy off his shoulders, the expectations that come with being captain no longer there, he can go out, express himself, play freely, and I think he’ll look to do just that,” the former India head coach said ahead of the 15th edition of the IPL starting from Saturday.

“I think he has taken a smart decision of relinquishing captaincy. I would have still preferred if he stayed on as India’s red-ball captain but that’s his personal choice,” Shastri was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

Besides his Team India captaincy roles, Kohli stepped down as the RCB skipper after last year’s IPL.