The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly has opened up on Virat Kohli’s removal as ODI captain and recalled when the board requested the former white-ball captain to not give up T20I captaincy. Kohli had announced that he will step down from T20I captaincy after T20 World Cup 2021. However, he had expressed that he wants to continue as ODI skipper.
“It's a call that the BCCI and the selectors took together. Actually, the BCCI had requested Virat to not step down as the T20I skipper but obviously, he did not agree. And the selectors then did not feel it right to have two different captains for two white-ball formats,” Ganguly told ANI.
“So it was decided that Virat will continue as Test captain and Rohit will take over as the white-ball captain. I as President personally spoke to Virat Kohli and the chairman of selectors has also spoken to him.”
The former Indian skipper also revealed that he, along with the chairman of selectors had a discussion with Kohli over the decision. Ahead of Rohit’s first assignment as ODI captain in South Africa, the southpaw said that he has “full faith” in the Mumbai-born opener’s abilities as leader.
"We have full faith in Rohit Sharma's leadership abilities, and Virat will continue as the Test captain. We as BCCI are confident that Indian cricket is in good hands. We thank Virat Kohli for his contributions as captain in the white-ball format," the BCCI president said.
Under Kohli’s leadership India won 65 out of 95 games making him one of the most successful captains in the format barring the inability to win a major ICC trophy.
While BCCI announced the 18-man Test squad for the upcoming South Africa tour, the ODI team is yet to be announced. The selectors may look at performances in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy before announcing the team for ODIs since the limited-overs series starts on January 19, 2022.
