"Didn't Remove Virat Kohli From Captaincy": Former BCCI President Sourav Ganguly, Says "He Wasn't..."

Last year, Indian cricket saw a very controversial episode as Virat Kohli stepped down from Test captaincy. The manner in which Virat Kohli's captaincy stint in the Indian team ended left a lot of questions. While the talismanic batter had himself decided to leave India's T20 captaincy, he was subsequently not persisted with in the ODI format also. Not long after, Kohli announced the decision to step down as the team's Test skipper too. 

Former Indian cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly was at the helm of the BCCI as president when Virat Kohli resigned. Many reports claimed that he played a big role in Virat Kohli's removal. However, he has said now that he had no role to play in it.

"I didn't remove Virat from captaincy. I have said this several times. He (Kohli) was not interested to lead in T20Is. So, after he made that decision, I told him, if you're not interested to lead in T20Is, it's better if you step down from entire white-ball cricket formats. Let there be a white-ball captain and a red-ball captain," Sourav Ganguly said on Dadagiri.

"I pushed Rohit Sharma a bit to take up the captaincy role because he wasn't interested to lead in all three formats of the game. So, maybe I have a bit of contribution in that but no matter who is administrating, it's the players who perform well on the field. No body from outside can contribute much.

"I was appointed as the President of BCCI to work for the betterment of Indian cricket, this is a small part of it."

After Kohli's exit as India's captain across three formats, Rohit Sharma was given the team's baton in T20Is, ODIs as well as Tests. 

"It has been 7 years of hard work, toil and relentless perseverance everyday to take the team in the right direction. I have done the job with absolute honesty and left nothing out there. Every thing has to come to a halt at some stage and for me as Test captain of India, it's now. There have been many ups and also some downs along the journey, but never has there been a lack of effort or lack of belief. I have always believed in giving my 120 per cent in everything I do, and if I can't do that, I know its not the right thing to do. I have absolute clarity in my heart and I cannot be dishonest to my team," KOhli had said in his statement then.

"I want to thank the BCCI for giving me the opportunity to lead my country for such a long period of time and more importantly, to all the teammates who bought into the vision I had for the team from day one and never gave up in any situation. You guys have made this journey so memorable and beautiful. To Ravi bhai and the support group who were the engine behind this vehicle that moved us upwards in Test cricket consistently, you all have played a massive role in bringing this vision to life. Lastly, a big thank you to MS Dhoni who believed in me as a captain and found me to be an able individual who could take Indian Cricket forward."

Topics mentioned in this article

Virat Kohli Sourav Ganguly India Cricket Team Cricket