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.
This was in complete contrast to Ganguly’s assertion a few days back that Kohli had been requested to not quit the position.
“No statements, no press conference. We will deal with it, leave it to (the) BCCI,” Ganguly told local mediapersons on Thursday.
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.
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.”
Rohit Sharma is now the sole white-ball captain and has also been made Kohli’s deputy in the Test format.
Kohli’s timing not right: Kapil
World Cup-winning former India skipper Kapil Dev feels Virat Kohli’s statements that exposed his differences with the BCCI on the issue of captaincy were ill-timed as they created an unsavoury controversy just ahead of a crucial tour to South Africa.
In the pre-departure press-conference in Mumbai on Wednesday, Kohli dismissed as “inaccurate” BCCI President Sourav Ganguly’s statement that the Board had requested him not to step down as T20I captain.
The comment exposed the underlying tension between Kohli and the administrators after he was removed as ODI skipper as well earlier this month.
“It is not good to point fingers on anybody at this point in time.
The South Africa tour is coming and please pay attention to the tour,” Kapil told ‘ABP News’ when asked about Kohli’s remarks.
“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.”
The 62-year-old, who led India to the 1983 World Cup title, urged Kohli to take control of the situation and think about the country.
“Aap situation ko control kijiye, behtar ye hai ki aap desh ke baare mein sochiye (Please control the situation and it’s better to think about the country now),” said the former skipper who played 134 Tests between 1978 and 1994 and took 434 wickets along with making 5248 runs.
“Jo galat hai woh kal pata chal hi jayega but I don’t think it is right to stoke a controversy before a tour,” he opined
The Indian Test team, led by Kohli, departed for South Africa on Thursday for a three-match series beginning at Centurion on December 26. India will also play three ODIs after the Test series.