With Team India’s performance in marquee ICC events steadily on the wane, Kohli’s removal from captaincy was always on the card. But nobody expected it to be so abrupt and immediate as the BCCI sacked Kohli last week and supplanted him with Rohit Sharma, another batting superstar with an equally remarkable record, as a skipper in limited-overs cricket.
As Kohli convened a press conference on Wednesday and narrated his side of the story, wherein he contradicted assertions made by BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, the dispute has now finally come out in public. It is, therefore, worth tracing the turn of events that led to the current imbroglio between the world’s richest cricket board and one of the most successful captains in Indian cricket.
Kohli gives up his T20I captaincy
It all started with Kohli’s announcement ahead of the T20I world cup that he would be relinquishing his captaincy for the shorter format after the World Cup. On 16 September 2021, Kohli took the cricketing world and his fans by surprise when he announced stepping down from the T20 captaincy following the world cup in UAE.
Citing a busy schedule and workload by paying three formats and regularly captaining for over five years, he said that he needed to give himself space to be fully ready to lead the Indian Cricket Team in Test an ODI. He said, “Understanding workload is a very important thing and considering my immense workload over the last 8-9 years playing all three formats and captaining regularly for last 5-6 years, I feel I need to give myself space to be fully ready to lead the Indian Team in Test and ODI cricket.”
India crashes out of the T20I world cup
Kohli’s prior announcement of giving up the captaincy of the Indian T20 team allegedly had a deleterious impact on the team’s performance in the T20I world cup. It suffered an ignominious defeat at the hands of its arch-rival Pakistan, which had failed to beat India in any of the world cup matches held so far.
Days later, the Indian cricket team suffered another shock when the Kiwis took them to the cleaners, registering an even more comprehensive win and virtually knocking India out of the world cup. India, however, did make a comeback against Afghanistan and other associate nations but the defeat in the first two matches against Pakistan and New Zealand meant India’s chances of qualifying for the semis, no matter how slim, rested on the results of other teams.
Kohli’s captaincy came under the scanner, for it was the first time since the start of the T20I world cup in 2007 that India had failed to qualify for the semis and had been eliminated in the first round itself. The team was roundly criticised by fans, former players and international observers, who criticised the BCCI for not taking bold decisions and going with the reputation of the players despite their lack of form.
Rohit Sharma named as T20I captain
After the embarrassing exit from the T20I world cup and Kohli’s decision to step down as the captain from the shorter format, the selectors named Rohit Sharma as the new captain of the Indian T20I team.
The change in captaincy seemed to have worked wonders for India as it whitewashed New Zealand in the T20I series of 3 matches held right after the World Cup. In each of the three matches, India racked up an emphatic victory, salvaging its pride to a certain extent after being vanquished by the same New Zealand side in the world cup held a couple of weeks ago. Virat was rested and was not a part of the squad that defeated the Kiwis 3-0.
Rohit Sharma replaces Virat Kohli as white ball captain
Ahead of the much-awaited South Africa tour of India, the BCCI replaced Virat Kohli with Rohit Sharma as the captain of the Indian One-Day International(ODI) team after the All-India senior selection committee met last week and picked an 18-member squad for the series.
It was then alleged that BCCI was of the opinion that there was no sense in having two different captains for white-ball cricket and since Kohli had given up his T20I captaincy, it was logical to saddle Rohit with the responsibility of the ODI captaincy as well.
However, BCCI’s decision to strip Kohli off the ODI captaincy evoked polarising reactions from fans and experts alike, with many calling it unjust on Kohli’s part and argued that he deserved to remain the ODI captain until the 2023 ODI world cup while others hailed it as a “bold” move aimed at taking Indian cricket to the next level.
It was also reported that Kohli was given an ultimatum of 48 hours to quit ODI captaincy which he ignored, following which the BCCI replaced him with Rohit Sharma as the new captain of the Indian ODI team.
Sourav Ganguly backs Rohit Sharma’s appointment, says he had asked Kohli to continue as T20I captain
Sourav Ganguly, the BCCI president, responded to the raging controversy, justifying the Board’s decision to go ahead with Rohit Sharma and providing a rationale for its decision. In his exclusive interview with News 18, Sourav Ganguly threw his weight behind Rohit Sharma, stating that the Mumbai Indians captain deserved the full-time role and has also proved his pedigree as a white-ball skipper in the past.
Ganguly cited Rohit’s record and said the batter had led India to an Asia Cup victory without the presence of Kohli in the squad.
In addition to this, Ganguly revealed that he had personally requested Kohli to reconsider his decision of quitting the T20I captaincy and continue leading the side in the shorter format. However, Kohli went ahead with his decision to announce his resignation from the T20 captaincy, which ultimately paved the way for his removal from ODI captaincy.
“It’s like I said… I personally requested him (Kohli) not to give up T20I captaincy. Obviously, he felt the workload. Which is fine, he has been a great cricketer, he has been very intense with his cricket. He has captained for a long period of time and these things happen,” Ganguly had said as the controversy surrounding Kohli’s abrupt removal from ODI captaincy started gaining traction.
Ganguly further explained how he did not believe in split white-ball captaincy that led to Kohli’s dismissal as the ODI captain. “Because I have captained for a long period of time; therefore, I know. Also, they wanted only one white-ball captain. And that’s why this decision. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. But as I said, it’s a good team and it has some fantastic players and I hope they will turn it around,” Ganguly said in an interview.
Rumours of Kohli skipping South Africa tour and Rohit Sharma ruled out SA test series
Rumours of a rift between India’s former and current ODI captain fuelled after Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the upcoming test series against South Africa. The controversy surrounding Kohli’s unceremonious removal from ODI captaincy only added to the speculations that Sharma has been the victim of the power tussle that is allegedly going on between Kohli and BCCI.
With Rohit Sharma, the vice-captain of India’s Test team, declared unfit for the series against South Africa, another round of rumours started doing the rounds in the media. As per rumours, Kohli was supposedly missing the South Africa tour citing personal reasons. It was then that Kohli announced a press conference to clear the air on the controversy and narrate his side of the story about the events that unfolded following his removal as ODI captain.
Kohli refutes Sourav Ganguly’s assertions, says he was not asked to continue as T20 captain, informed 90 mins before his removal from ODI captaincy
Earlier today, prolific Indian batsman Virat Kohli addressed a presser where he spoke on the high-voltage issues currently wracking Indian cricket. Amidst speculation of a rift between Kohli and the BCCI and rumours of him avoiding the South Africa tour, Kohli described the entire process of naming Rohit Sharma as the ODI captain in place of him transpired.
The former white-ball captain said he was ready to continue as the one-day captain even after resigning as the T-20 captain, but the BCCI had other ideas. It is notable to mention that BCCI had appointed Sharma to lead the ODI team, stating that there was no need for two white-ball captains.
Kohli further added that reports about the BCCI’s communication with him ahead of the decision were inaccurate, and he was contacted just before the selection committee meeting for the test team. There was no prior communication from BCCI after he had announced resigning as the T-20 captain. Virat Kohli said that he got a call from BCCI one and half hours before the meeting, and he was informed that all five selectors have decided to remove him from the captaincy of the one-day team. He accepted the decision of the committee, he informed.
The revelations made by Kohli in his press conference were in stark contradiction to the statements made by Sourav Ganguly over the last few days. Ganguly had earlier said that he had personally spoken to Kohli on the board’s decision to go ahead with Rohit Sharma as the new ODI captain and so did the chairman of the selectors Chetan Sharma.
With Kohli’s startling announcements in his presser, the cat is finally out of the bag as it confirms the speculations of differences between the former Indian ODI cricket team captain and the Board of Control of Cricket in India(BCCI).
