Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly, who also served as the board president, recently clarified that he played no part in removing Virat Kohli from India’s captaincy. Kohli stepped down from the T20I captaincy after the 2021 T20 World Cup, and subsequently, he was also removed from the ODI captaincy.
With Rohit Sharma taking over as the new captain for India’s white-ball teams, fans were fuming over the decision to remove Kohli. During a press conference following his removal from the ODI captaincy, Kohli expressed his lack of prior information about the decision. Speculations circulated that Ganguly might have influenced Kohli’s departure from the captaincy, but the former India captain has now reiterated that he had no role in this saga.
Addressing the matter on the reality show Dadagiri Unlimited Season 10, Ganguly stated, “I didn’t remove Virat from the captaincy. I have said this a lot of times. He was not interested in leading in T20Is. So, after he made that decision, I told him, if you’re not interested in leading in T20Is, it’s better if you step down from entire white-ball cricket. Let there be a white-ball captain and a red-ball captain.”
Virat Kohli had a great time as Indian captain
Virat Kohli had taken over as India’s ODI and T20I captain in January 2017 after MS Dhoni stepped down. Under Kohli’s leadership, India reached the final of the 2017 Champions Trophy and the semi-final of the 2019 ODI World Cup. However, after the 2021 T20I World Cup loss, Kohli decided to step down as T20I skipper, which led to his complete removal.
In a surprising move in January 2022, Kohli also resigned from India’s Test captaincy. Despite this decision, Kohli remains India’s most successful Test captain, with 40 wins out of 48 Test matches under his leadership. It’s worth noting that India is currently set to face South Africa in a two-match Test series starting on December 26.
Here is how fans react to Sourav Ganguly’s comments:
If he didn't do that so India is champions of all formats today. Rohit captaincy choks in all 3 big event in the duration of 10 months
— Indian sport action (@sportszone_17) December 5, 2023
King kohli era pic.twitter.com/5T9FGaOewv
— ANANT ?? (@Akk_vk18) December 5, 2023
To be honest!! Virat wasn’t that good throughout his captaincy but without captaincy .
— Aditya (@AdityaDntCare) December 5, 2023
Dada doesn't do politics
Straight forward— MRS. RAJALAXMI (@MrsRajalaxmi) December 5, 2023
Misunderstanding ho jaati hai Dada ?
— ?? ??? ??? ?? | Ye galat baat hai (@YGBHPAGE) December 5, 2023
Australia won every ICC Tournaments and here we are always fighting over captaincy rather than focus on team performance. I won't say that captaincy doesn't matter but team spirit and team performance is important. "The team is not for the captain, the captaincy is for the team"
— Ashish Jayant (@CoderbyChance) December 5, 2023
You said BCCI didn't want split captaincy so you removed him
But why india has 3 captain in 3 format now ????
Understand the hypocrisy of BCCI
Kohli is the victim of this politics
— It's Sumanta (@hello_twittterr) December 5, 2023
Honestly saying ! Virat deserved more time as captain in ODIs
— Vikash Awasthi (@Vikashawasthhi) December 5, 2023
As if now, Team India is playing all three formats under one captain.???
— ?????? (@vinoo_96) December 5, 2023
