A day after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) names Rohit Sharma as the full-time T20I and ODI captain moving forward, President Sourav Ganguly revealed the behind-the-scenes discussions that took place in the run up to the leadership change in limited overs format.
On Thursday, December 9, former Indian skipper Ganguly revealed that the decision to replace Virat Kohli as captain came after the star batsman’s refusal to keep the reins in T20I cricket. Talking to news agency ANI, Ganguly also revealed that it was a unanimous call of the selectors and the board.
“It`s a call that the BCCI and the selectors took together. Actually, the BCCI had requested Virat to not step down as the T20I skipper but obviously, he did not agree. And the selectors then did not feel it right to have two different captains for two white-ball formats,” Ganguly told ANI.
Ganguly said that making Rohit Sharma the full-time captain the white-ball format was the unanimous decision of the BCCI and the selectors. Sharma was named captain by BCCI in an announcement on Wednesday, December 8, as it named the squad for the Test series against South Africa beginning December 26. Kohli will keep the charge of the Test team, while Sharma was also named the new vice-captain for the longer format.
“So it was decided that Virat will continue as Test captain and Rohit will take over as the white-ball captain. I as President personally spoke to Virat Kohli and the chairman of selectors has also spoken to him,” Ganguly said.
The BCCI president thanked the Kohli for contributions as the white-ball skipper, at the same time backing Sharma’s leadership capabilities moving forward. He said, “We have full faith in Rohit Sharma`s leadership abilities, and Virat will continue as the Test captain. We as BCCI are confident that Indian cricket is in good hands. We thank Virat Kohli for his contributions as captain in the white-ball format.”
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