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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly has applauded, now former captain Virat Kohli and respected his decision to step down as the captain of the Indian Test side. Kohli, on Saturday evening, took to his social media handles to make the decision public after losing the Test series 1-2 against South Africa. The former India captain, Ganguly took to his Twitter handle late on Saturday night to address the call.
"Under Virat's leadership Indian cricket has made rapid strides in all formats of the game ..his decision is a personal one and Bcci respects it immensely ..he will be an important member to take this team to newer heights in the future. A great player. Well done @BCCI @imVkohli," the BCCI president wrote.
At the back end of last year both Kohli and Ganguly were involved in alteration most recently when the selectors' panel decided to sack Kohli as the captain of the ODI team. According to Ganguly, the board was left with no option but to sack Kohli as the captain of the ODI side once he had left the T20I captaincy after the T20 World Cup. The board had asked the 33-year-old to stay put at his role of captaincy, Ganguly said in December.
Much debate surrounded the team before they boarded for South Africa. Kohli was unhappy with the decision of sacking as he was informed 90 minutes before the team announcement for South Africa tour. Ganguly on the flip side stated that he had informed Kohli of the decision, a statement denied by Kohli. The BCCI and Kohli saga transformed into Ganguly and Kohli saga by that time. Chief selector, Chetan Sharma, backed Ganguly by going public and stating, the board had asked Kohli to remain in charge.
Ever since, plenty of water has gone underneath the bridge as Kohli's Indian team lost the Test series 1-2, despite having led 1-0. The saga surrounding the captaincy looks like has taken its final twist as Kohli brought an end to his seven-year tenure as skipper. One place where he has got the better of Ganguly is the record books, with 40 wins in 68 matches he has been India's most successful captain in terms of number of wins. Only Graeme Smith (53), Ricky Ponting (43) and Steve Waugh (41) have won more Test matches as captain of any Test-playing nation.
