Virat Kohli drops the bomb, says there was no prior communication regarding ODI captaincy!

It’s a scary situation out there. Indian fans are confused but of course Virat Kohli is getting the benefit of the doubt as the Indian red ball captain addressed the issue in the press conference on Wednesday. Previously, board president Sourav Ganguly clarified that he personally spoke to Virat Kohli and asked him not to leave the T20I captaincy. However, things quickly changed when Virat said that he had no communication whatsoever with any of the officials regarding the same.

In the press conference, Virat said, “When I first communicated with the BCCI about leaving T20I captaincy, when I approached BCCI that this is my point of view and these are the reasons I want to do it then it was received very well”. He added, “There was no hesitation in that. I was not told that you don't leave T20 captaincy but it was received very well, that it was a very progressive step and that it was in the right direction”.

Kohli also clarified how things went down and when he was said that we won’t be captaining the team in the 50 over’s cricket. In the press conference he said, “There was no prior communication to me at all since I announced the T20I captaincy decision until the 8th of December, where I got a call before the selection meeting. The chief selector discussed with me the Test team, to which we both agreed. And before ending the call, I was told the five selectors have decided I will not be the ODI captain, to which I replied, 'okay, fine', and in the selection call afterwards, we chatted about it briefly. That's what happened. There was no communication prior to that at all”.

The board has completely failed to manage the situation if we see things from Virat’s point of view. Removing your captain over a telephonic conversation without any prior meeting or discussion is not just wrong but a very bad example of how Indian cricket is working these days. Virat Kohli has been absolutely fantastic as a captain. He indeed failed to deliver in the International tournaments and the board has all the right to take a decision but again, this is not how fans expect the board to run.

Like always, Virat once again clarified that he has no problem with Rohit Sharma whatsoever. When asked about a possible rift, Kohli said, “There is no rift between me and Rohit Sharma. I have clarified multiple times in the last 2.5 years and now I’m tired of clarifying things. I can guarantee you that my communication will never be to take my team down till I am playing cricket. It is my commitment towards Indian cricket”. He added, “My responsibility is to push the team in the right direction. Along with Rahul bhai and Rohit, both will have my full support moving forward”.

The test team captain also clarified that he never thought of taking a break during the ODI series against South Africa. There were multiple reports in the media stating that he might but Virat cleared that it’s all made in the media. “I was and I’m available for the selection all the time. I never communicated with the board asking for rest. I’m available for the ODI series in South Africa, and was always available”. While digging more into the matter, he said, “It should be asked to people who are writing lies. My communication with the board on this issue hasn’t happened that I want to rest”.

In short, Virat has been stripped from his captaincy and he was very much okay with that. Honestly, not that he had a choice. However, Sourav Ganguly, the board president who faced similar things during his tenure as a captain should have taken some better care of the situation. Either one of them failed to communicate the correct information or Indian cricket has still not recovered and has the same mindset where nothing will be clarified and everything is up in the air!