Sourav Ganguly finally breaks silence on Virat Kohli’s decision to quit T20I captaincy

Sourav Ganguly, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has finally spoken up on Team India skipper Virat Kohli’s decision to quit the T20 captaincy after the World Cup. Ganguly has said that it was his own decision and the BCCI did not put any kind of pressure.

Speaking to India Today, Ganguly said that he was surprised after Virat expressed his desire to quit the T20I captaincy. He, however, said that he understood why Kohli took the decision. 

“I was surprised. This decision must have been taken only after the England tour and it is his decision. There was no pressure from our end, we didn’t tell him anything,” Ganguly told India Today.

The former Indian skipper said that captains in the past, including himself, have felt burnt out at one particular point in time and added that it’s a tough job to lead a country like India in all three formats of the game for such a long time.

“We don’t do things like that because I myself have been a player so I understand. It is very difficult to be a captain in all formats for this long,” he said. 

“I was a captain for six years, it looks good from the outside, there is respect and all that. But you get burnt out on the inside and it happens to any captain. Not just to Tendulkar or Ganguly or Dhoni or Kohli but to the captain that will come up next as well. It is a tough job,” Ganguly added.

Notably, in September, Virat Kohli had announced that he will be resigning as the T20 captain for India after the ICC Men’s T20I World Cup. In his lengthy Instagram post, Kohli said that the real reason behind him stepping down is because he needs space to completely lead ODI and Test teams. Kohli said he took this decision after lengthened discussions with Rohit Sharma, team management, and the BCCI. 

Virat Kohli, one of the most popular cricketers around the world, will be leading India in his last assignment as the captain in the T20Is and would want to finish on a high. India will begin their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday, October 24.