Chairman of the selection committee of the Indian cricket team Chetan Sharma has refuted Virat Kohli’s allegations that he was not asked to take back his resignation from T20 captain. While addressing a press conference held in the evening on Friday 31st December 2022, Sharma said that Virat Kohli was asked to continue as T20 captain for the sake of Indian cricket. Sharma also reconfirmed that he had personally called Virat Kohli and told that the selection committee was of the opinion to keep the same captain for white-ball cricket.
This explanation by Sharma has destroyed Kohli’s allegation that he made days after being dropped as the ODI captain in which he had said that he was informed about the decision just one and half hours before the decision was taken officially. BCCI has been saying that as it does not want two limited over cricket captains, Kohli was dropped as one day captain after he resigned from the post of T20 captain.
In the last few days, there has been a lot of discussion about Kohli being dropped as the captain of the Indian white-ball cricket team. But as the chairman of the selection committee, Chetan Sharma himself has explained the incidences in a press conference, Kohli’s allegations are once again refuted; Sourav Ganguly’s response to those allegations being the first instance. Chetan Sharma’s assertion has cleared many aspects of the controversy. Here is what he has said.
Proving Kohli’s claim false
Virat Kohli had claimed that it was only while stepping down from the captaincy of the T20 team that he had conveyed BCCI that he wanted to continue as the captain for the ODI and the test formats; but the board did not discuss with him before pulling him down from the captaincy of the ODI team. Refuting this claim of Kohli, Sharma said, “We (BCCI) had requested Virat not to step down as T20 captain. There was no plan to change captaincy. But he stepped down as T20 captain and the selectors decided not to split limited-overs captaincy, opting for a complete separation.”
Kohli had said that everyone in BCCI had accepted his decision to step down from T20 captaincy, and had said that the decision was taken as a progressive step, there was no hesitation in accepting the resignation, and there was no request to him to withdraw the resignation. But Chetan Sharma refuted this, and today said that everyone in the meeting had asked him to reconsider the decision. “Everybody who was part of that meeting told Virat to reconsider his decision. We felt at the time that it would affect the (team at the) World Cup and it was told to Virat for the sake of Indian cricket, ‘please continue as captain’. It was told to him by everybody. The convener was there. The Board officials were there. But he took the decision and we respected it,” Sharma said.
Earlier, Sourav Ganguly had also made similar comments, when he said that BCCI had requested Virat Kohli not to step down as T20 captain, as there was no plan to change captaincy. “But he stepped down as T20I captain and the selectors decided not to split limited-overs captaincy, opting for a complete separation,” BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had said.
What exactly was the committee’s decision?
Chetan Sharma further said that selecting a new captain for the ODI team was the decision taken by the selection committee. “As soon as the selection committee took the decision, immediately I called up Virat. It was a Test selection meeting. Immediately after that, at 5 o’clock we informed him that there would be one white-ball captain. In terms of planning, the selectors decided that we must have one white-ball captain and one red-ball captain. There were a couple of questions and we had a good conversation. We didn’t want to inform him at the selection meeting,” he added.
Virat Kohli has been saying that he wanted to be retained as one day captain. But BCCI has been making it clear that for that he will also have to remain as T20 captain, as the selectors do not want two different captains for T20 and one day cricket.
About the so called misunderstanding between Kohli and BCCI
Chetan Sharma also cleared that there is no misunderstanding between Kohli and BCCI. He said, “There is no misunderstanding between BCCI, selection committee and the players. Whenever committee makes any decision, it is only the captain whom we can directly convey it. I don’t take any decision independently. We conveyed Virat Kohli once we had decided. When the meeting started, Virat Kohli told us that he has decided to step down from the captaincy of the T20I team. All of us were shocked to listen to this decision of him. We never wanted any controversy.”
“That was not the right time (selection meeting for the T20 World Cup) to tell Virat that we wanted to have one captain in white-ball formats. We were going to a World Cup. It wasn’t the appropriate time to tell him that if he stepped down as T20I captain, he couldn’t be the ODI captain as well. Everybody (selectors and BCCI officials) requested him to think about this decision after the World Cup,” Sharma said.
Tough decisions can’t be avoided
Chetan Sharma also said a few words of praise for Kohli. He said that Virat Kohli is an important player around whom the team is being built. Adding to this he said, “We wish that he should play more for India and make many more runs. We wanted the same captain for T20I and ODI formats and it was a tough decision for the selection committee. But then, the committee has to take such tough decisions.”
