Former Indian player Dilip Vengsarkar said that choosing Kohli over Badrinath in 2008 costed his job as a chief selector.
Virat Kohli who led his team to victory in the ICC U-19 WC 2008, made his ODI debut in the same year against Sri Lanka.
N Srinivasan”s intervention
The former player also said that the former BCCI president N Srinivasan was not convinced with his decision as he had a liking towards Badrinath.
During the team selection for the Sri Lankan tour, Vengsarkar suggested that the team should go with young talents like Kohli and he would be a perfect fit for the team.
Though the other members of the selection panel were convinced, N Srinivasan was not satisfied with his approach.
“I knew that they were keen on keeping S Badrinath in the team because he was a Chennai Super Kings player. If Kohli would have come in, Badrinath would have been dropped. N Srinivasan was the BCCI treasurer at that time. He was upset that Badrinath was dropped because he was their player”, said Vengsarkar
Dhoni, Gary not convinced
Speaking of a function at Mumbai Vengsarkar said “I felt this was an ideal situation to include Kohli in the squad. Although the other four selectors agreed with my decision, Gary Kirsten and MS Dhoni were reluctant as they had not seen much of Kohli. I told them that I have seen him and we have to include him in the team. “
It is to be noted that Vengsarkar was removed from the post in the same year and Kris Srikanth was appointed as the chief selector.
Vengsarkar represented India in 250 Internationals, scored over 10000 runs and was made the chief selector in the year 2006.
Kohli – Aggression redefined
Since his inclusion in the side, Kohli has been making the critics shut their mouths with his knocks.
He has broken many records till now and is expected to break a plethora of them.
The Indian skipper is taking a break from the game now and will lead the Royal Challengers in the IPL 2018.
