Former India player and World Cup Kirti Azad has come to Virat Kohli’s rescue and slammed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for its role in the ongoing tussle. Both Kohli and the BCCI are involved in a verbal argument regarding the captaincy of the ODI team. Azad, member of the 1983 World Cup-winning team, has now become the latest person to pass his opinion in the ongoing Virat vs BCCI saga.
“If this was to be decided by the selectors, they should have gone up to the president. Generally, what happens is that when a team is selected – when I was also a national selector – we would select the team and go to the president of the board. He would see, okay it, sign it and then it would be announced. But it is always the custom that a team after being selected goes to have a look,” Azad said while speaking to News18.
“So obviously, if you are changing the captain for any format, you write and inform the president. Virat is not upset, but I feel he is hurt for the way he has been informed. So once it went to Sourav, he could have also unofficially spoken about it. You can understand, I don’t want to say this. All the selectors are really great guys, but if you put their total number of matches, it won’t be even half of what Virat has played,” the former all-rounder said with regards to the role of BCCI president.
The hot off-the-field debate looks like will come to an end in the coming days as BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has vowed to keep the matter behind the screen. India are due to play South Africa in a three-match Test series followed by three-match ODI series. Kohli will continue to lead the team in Test format while Rohit Sharma has been named as the captain of the ODI team.
The Indian team landed in South Africa in the midweek and has started its preparations for the Boxing Day (December 26) Test. Rohit who was also named as the vice-captain of the Test side is not available for the series. In Rohit’s absence, KL Rohit has been appointed as the vice-captain of the side. The ODI series is due to start on January 19 for which Rohit is expected to be available.
