"Didn't remove Virat Kohli from captaincy," Former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly breaks his silence

Former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly yet again answers on Virat Kohli’s captaincy stint.

In a recent episode of the reality show Dadagiri Unlimited Season 10, former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly took the opportunity to address the questions surrounding Virat Kohli’s departure from the captaincy after India’s T20 World Cup exit in 2021. Ganguly’s clarified the decision-making process and the misconceptions surrounding Kohli’s departure from the leadership role.

Virat Kohli led team India in a total of 213 matches, comprising all three formats (tests, ODIs, and T20Is). During his tenure India faced 135 victories and 60 losses.

Sourav Ganguly clears the air on Virat Kohli stepping down from captaincy

Following India’s early exit from the T20 World Cup in 2021, Virat Kohli stepped down from the T20I captaincy, expressing his desire to continue leading in ODIs and tests. The transition was not without controversy, as Rohit Sharma assumed the white-ball captaincy, including ODIs, leaving Kohli solely in charge of the test team until he, too, stepped down from that the role in January 2022.

Ganguly, in response to a video in Dadagiri Unlimited Season 10, emphasized, “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. Let there be a white-ball captain and a red-ball captain.”

Ganguly bringing clarity to the circumstances surrounding Kohli’s departure, revealed that Rohit Sharma was initially reluctant to take up the test captaincy. However, Ganguly, as the former BCCI president, played a pivotal role in convincing Sharma to embrace the responsibility, aiming for a clear demarcation between white-ball and red-ball leadership.

Ganguly acknowledged his influence in Sharma’s decision, stating, “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. I was appointed as the President of BCCI to work for the betterment of Indian cricket, this is a small part of it.” Despite his role in the decision-making process, Ganguly emphasized that on-field performance is ultimately determined by the players and expressed his commitment to the betterment of Indian cricket.

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