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Virat Kohli Wanted Shikhar Dhawan In The Team; Fought With Selectors

Virat Kohli

FILE PHOTO: Cricket - ICC Cricket World Cup Semi Final - India v New Zealand - Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain - July 10, 2019 India's Virat Kohli reacts after losing his wicket Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith/File Photo

Ever since Team India captain Virat Kohli has announced his decision to quit the captaincy from the T20 format after the upcoming T20 World Cup, everyone started justifying his decision as well.

Meanwhile, as per the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah, this has been going on for the last six months as well with Kohli and the captaincy group.

“I have been in discussions with Virat and the leadership team for the last six months and the decision has been thought through. Virat will continue to contribute as a player and as a senior member of the side in shaping the future course of Indian cricket,” Jay Shah was quoted as saying in a BCCI statement.

While Kohli has shared that his increasing workload is the main reason behind his step down, his explanation, left many shocked and surprised. And, one of the reasons was that he knew that if India couldn’t win the T20 World Cup, he might have been sacked from the captaincy.

On the other hand, as per the report in Cricbuzz, Virat Kohli was involved in a debate with the selectors over the inclusion of Shikhar Dhawan in the ODI squad for the home series against England earlier this year as well. While the five-member selection panel, led by Chetan Sharma, wanted to give the chance to a young player with a national call-up in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Kohli fought hard to add Dhawan to the team.

“For instance, he had to fight hard to have Shikhar Dhawan in the ODI squad for the India-England series in February- March this year. The selectors, it is learnt, wanted to have another opener who did well in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Kohli had insisted that Dhawan, who had by then lost his place in the Twenty20 squad, was a must,” read a report in Cricbuzz.

Photo Credit: (BCCI)

“So hot was the debate in that March meeting, that the BCCI had to wait for some sort of consensus before making the announcement, almost five days after the squad was picked,” it further added.

However, there were a few more as well. In July, both Virat Kohli and Team India head coach Ravi Shastri had requested Prithvi Shaw and Devdutt Padikkal as injury replacements prior to the England Test series but Chetan Sharma-led selectors’ panel had declined their demand. And, all these proved Kohli didn’t have the final call in the team selection.

However, it will be interesting to see how things take place in the future.


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