Indian Test captain Virat Kohli on Wednesday opened up on how the entire process of naming Rohit Sharma as Team India’s new ODI captain, in place of him, transpired. Virat, while addressing the media before the team’s departure for the Test series in South Africa, said that he was informed by the selectors that he won’t be the ODI captain anymore just one and a half hours before the Test squad for the South Africa series was announced and that there was no prior communication on the same from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
This statement of Virat’s contradicts the statements made by BCCI president Sourav Ganguly over the past few days. Ganguly had mentioned that he had personally spoken to Kohli about the decision to name Rohit Sharma as the new ODI captain and that so did the chairman of selectors Chetan Sharma.
Ganguly had further mentioned that Kohli was asked to not step down from captaincy in T20Is, but Kohli contradicted that too as he said that his decision of stepping down from T20I captaincy was well received by the Indian cricket board.
“When I decided to leave the T20I captaincy and approached the BCCI about my decision, it was received well,” Kohli said. “There was no offence or hesitation. I wasn’t told to reconsider it. It was received well; I was told it’s progressive and it’s (a step) in the right direction,” said Kohli at a virtual press conference on Wednesday.
“Then I told them I’d like to continue in Tests and ODIs, unless the office bearers and selectors feel otherwise. My communication was clear in what I wanted to do. I gave
them the option, that if they feel I shouldn’t (remain captain in Tests and/or ODIs), the decision is in their hands,” he added.
