India Test captain Virat Kohli’s sacking as ODI captain has created a lot of buzz in recent times. While he has stepped down as India’s T20I skipper post the T20 World Cup 2021, the BCCI has named Rohit Sharma as the new ODI captain as well.
With this, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had claimed that he ‘personally requested’ Kohli to not leave the T20I captaincy. And, to react to it in the press conference on Wednesday (December 15), Virat Kohli clarified that the claims are false as he came to know about the decision only 1 and half hours before the selection meeting only.
Ex Cricketers React To Virat Kohli’s Comments
“I was contacted one-and-a-half hours before the selection meeting on the 8th (December) for the Test series. There was no prior communication to me at all since I announced the T20I captaincy decision until the 8th of December, where I got a call before the selection meeting. I was never told not to give up T20I captaincy,” Kohli claimed.
Meanwhile, their different statements led to controversies and veteran cricketers have also opined on that.
“It is not good to point fingers on anybody at this point in time. The South Africa tour is coming and please pay attention to the tour. I would say the Board president is the Board president but yes the Indian cricket team captain is also a big thing. But talking badly about each other in public, I don’t think it is a good thing, whether it is Sourav or Kohli,” Kapil Dev told ABP News.
“I think it (Kohli’s comments) actually doesn’t bring the BCCI into the picture. I think it’s the individual who has to be asked where he got the impression he had conveyed such a message to Kohli. So that’s the only thing. Yes, he is the BCCI president and surely he should be asked why there is this discrepancy,” Sunil Gavaskar told India Today.
“This is definitely shocking and this is news to me as well that Virat Kohli said something like this in the press conference. What comment should I give, about why it has happened and why such a thing should not have happened,” Rajkumar Sharma, Virat Kohli’s childhood coach said on India News.
“Ganguly needs to answer this for the betterment of Indian cricket. He is the President of the BCCI and Kohli contradicting him in public is not a small thing. This is unrest,” said Salman Butt, the former Pakistan captain, on his YouTube channel.
“Virat Kohli said he never asked for leave, the news had come that he had asked for leave even before Rohit Sharma was named the captain. I mean this is a communication breakdown. Who is doing this and why is somebody doing this?” the former Indian opener Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“BCCI does not play any role in the selection process. The statements given by Virat in the press conference today were a bit shocking. Things shouldn’t have gone wrong the way they did,” Sarandeep Singh was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
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