Kohli was removed as ODI captain earlier this month, and Ganguly claimed that the BCCI had asked the RCB batter not to leave the T20I captaincy.
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Sourav Ganguly has finally responded to Virat Kohli‘s explosive press conference in which he discussed his dismissal as ODI captain and contradicted the BCCI President’s remarks. Kohli was removed as ODI captain earlier this month, and Ganguly claimed the next day that the BCCI had asked Kohli not to leave the T20I captaincy in September, and that the selectors had to drop him from the 50-overs captaincy because the BCCI prefers a single captain for white-ball formats. However, Kohli had contradicted Ganguly’s statement during his explosive press conference ahead of the South Africa Test series on Wednesday.
The press conference has put the BCCI under scrutiny, with the cricket board and president being blamed for a poor handling of Kohli’s dismissal. “I have no comment to make. BCCI will deal with it appropriately,” Ganguly said as per Indian news organisation News18.
Meanwhile, Kohli stated on Friday that the selectors informed him of his removal from the ODI captaincy 90 minutes before the Test team was chosen for the South Africa tour.
“Whatever was said about the communication that happened about the decision that was made was inaccurate. I was contacted one-and-a-half hours before the selection meeting on December 8 for the Test series and there was no prior communication to me at all since I announced my decision on T20I captaincy,” said Kohli.
Kohli also contradicted Ganguly’s comments, in which the BCCI president stated that he asked the 33-year-old not to resign as T20I captain. “When I left the T20I captaincy, I had first approached BCCI and intimated them of my decision and laid down my point of view in front of them (office bearers). I gave the reasons why I wanted to quit T20 captaincy and my view point was received very nicely. There was no offence, no hesitation and not for once was I told that ‘you should not leave T20 captaincy’,” added Kohli.
Kohli on Wednesday opened up on how the entire process of naming Rohit Sharma as Team India’s new ODI captain, in place of him, transpired. Virat, while addressing the media before the team’s departure for the Test series in South Africa, said that he was informed by the selectors that he won’t be the ODI captain anymore just one and a half hours before the Test squad for the South Africa series was announced and that there was no prior communication on the same from the BCCI. BCCI chief selector Chetan Sharma was reportedly scheduled to address a press conference on the timeline of events but this was cancelled later in the day on Wednesday, December 15.
Following Kohli’s dismissal, Rohit Sharma was named captain of the Indian ODI and T20I teams. The decision has sparked debate, given the ambiguity surrounding Kohli’s desire to step down as captain of the national team in the 50-over format. Rohit, on the other hand, stated that the legendary Indian cricketer remained a “leader” of the team, praising his ability to deliver with the bat.
