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India Test skipper Virat Kohli on Wednesday confirmed that he is available for the ODI series against South Africa scheduled to start on January 19, 2022 in Cape Town. It was earlier reported that Kohli will not take part in the three-match ODI series against South Africa due to some personal issues but the 33-year old talismanic batsman quashed all the rumours.
“I was and I am available for selection all this time. You should not be asking me these questions; you should ask those who are writing these stories and sources. All these people who are writing are not credible. I was always keen to play ODIs,” said Kohli in a virtual press conference.
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly had earlier claimed that he had personally requested Kohli to not step down as the T20I skipper. But Kohli claimed that he was not told by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to not relinquish the T20I captaincy of the national team. Before the commencement of ICC T20 World Cup, Kohli announced his decision of stepping down as the T20I captain.
“I communicated to the BCCI when I left the T20 captaincy. I shared my point of view and the reasons behind taking that decision, and it was received very well. There was no hesitation. I wasn't asked to not leave the T20I captaincy; instead, it was considered a progressive step and that it was in the right direction,” Kohli explained.
India under the leadership of Kohli will start the three-match Test series on December 26 in Centurion and the Men in Blue will play the first ODI of the three-match series on January 19, 2022. Rohit Sharma is all set to lead the national team in ODIs against South Africa and Kohli promised to offer 100 per cent support to India coach Rahul Dravid and India’s limited-overs skipper Rohit.
“My responsibility is to push the team in the right direction. Rohit is a very able captain and tactically very sound. Along with Rahul (Dravid) bhai, who is a great man manager. They will get my 100 per cent support in ODIs and T20Is," said Kohli.
