A day after India Test captain Virat Kohli triggered a storm by publicly contradicting him, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly refused to comment on the matter, saying the Board will deal with it.
Kohli, during his pre-departure press conference ahead of the tour of South Africa, said that he was never asked to stay on as T20 skipper when he made his intent clear on relinquishing the post.
Kohli’s comments on Wednesday brought to fore the underlying tension in his equation with the administrators. “Whatever was said about the communication that happened about the decision that was made was inaccurate,” Kohli had said with obvious reference to Ganguly’s statement.
“When I left the T20 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’,” he had asserted.
Earlier, Ganguly, in an interview to PTI, said that he had spoken to Kohli and told him that two captains in the white ball format was not something that the selectors wanted as there would be “too much of leadership.”
It is to be noted Rohit Sharma is now the sole white-ball captain and has also been made Kohli’s deputy in the Test format.
After Kohli frankly spoken interview it was found was in complete contrast to Ganguly’s assertion a few days back that Kohli had been requested to not quit the position. There was talk of BCCI asking chairman of selectors Chetan Sharma to address the media after Kohli’s explosive press conference but the Board eventually refrained from making any counter statements.
Reacting to this “No statements, no press conference. We will deal with it, leave it to (the) BCCI,” Ganguly told local mediapersons on Thursday.
How Former Captain Kapil Dev reacted
I would say Board president is Board president but yes the Indian cricket team captain is also a big thing. But talking badly about each other in public, I don’t think it is a good thing, whether it is Sourav or Kohli.” Said First world cup winner for India former Indian Skipper Kapil dev.
Kapil urged the 33-year-old to rather control the situation and put the country ahead of these issues. “Please control the situation and it’s better to think about the country now. Whatever wrong has happened, it will come out later but I don’t think it is right to stoke a controversy before a tour,” said the former skipper.
How Former Captain Gavaskar reacted
Gavaskar also questioned BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, seeking clarification on the contradictory statements made by him, and Virat Kohli.
“I think it (Kohli’s comments) actually doesn’t bring the BCCI into the picture. I think it’s the individual who has to be asked where he got the impression he had conveyed such a message to Kohli. So that’s the only thing. Yes, he is the BCCI president and surely he should be asked why there is this discrepancy. He is probably the best person to ask about the discrepancy in what you seem to have to say and what the Indian captain has said,” said Gavaskar.
In the meanwhile, Team India has taken off for South Africa, where they will be playing 3 Test matches and as many ODI matches against the Proteas, starting from December 26.
