India’s Tour of South Africa: Virat Kohli Makes Big Announcement After Being Removed as ODI Captain
India’s Tour of South Africa: Virat Kohli Makes Big Announcement After Being Removed as ODI Captain
Virat Kohli Set to Skip South Africa ODI Series
Virat Kohli has reportedly opted out of India’s three-match ODI series against South Africa which is scheduled to be held in January next year, as he plans to take a short break for personal reasons.
Kohli Replaced by Rohit Sharma as the captain of the India ODI Team:
Kohli was recently replaced by Rohit Sharma as the captain of the India ODI team nearly a couple of months after he announced his decision to give up T20I leadership role.
The change in ODI captaincy has not gone down well with the cricket fraternity especially with the way BCCI has handled the matter. It was reported that Virat Kohli was given 48 hours to step down from the ODI captaincy, but the BCCI had to forcefully hand over reigns to Rohit Sharma after there was no response from the Test skipper. The announcement regarding the change in captaincy did not see any explanation from BCCI nor any comments were made from either Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli.
Virat Kohli informed the BCCI that he will not be available for the ODI series:
Kohli had skipped his training session in Mumbai on Monday (December 14) and even informed the board that he will not be available for the ODI series as he wants to celebrate his daughter Vamika’s first birthday with his wife Anushka Sharma
According to a report in The Times of India, Kohli has already informed BCCI of his plans to spend time with his family as the ODI series in South Africa falls at the same time as the birthday of his daughter.
Kohli: Was told I wouldn’t be ODI captain hour-and-a-half before SA Test squad was announced
Virat Kohli was informed of his removal as India’s ODI captain just one-and-a-half hours before the selection meeting to pick the Test squad for South Africa, he said at a press interaction on Wednesday.
Kohli also said that there had been no communication from the BCCI over the ODI captaincy between September 16, when he announced his decision to step down from T20I captaincy, and December 8, when the South Africa-bound Test squad was named.
At the time, Kohli said his decision to quit as T20I captain just prior to the World Cup was “received well” and termed as “progressive” by the BCCI top brass. His words were in sharp contrast to that of BCCI president Sourav Ganguly’s, which suggested Kohli was asked to reconsider his decision.
“I was contacted one-and-a-half hours before the selection meeting on December 8 for the Test series,” Kohli said of the communication (or lack of it) with the BCCI on the ODI captaincy. “There was no prior communication to me at all from when I announced the T20I captaincy decision until the eighth (of December), when I got a call before the selection meeting.
Virat Kohli: “When I decided to leave the T20I captaincy and approached the BCCI about my decision, it was received well – there was no offence or hesitation, I wasn’t told to reconsider it”
The chief selector [Chetan Sharma] discussed with me the Test team to which we both agreed, and before ending the call I was told the five selectors have decided I will not be the ODI captain, to which I replied, ‘okay, fine’. And in the selection call afterwards, we chatted about it briefly. That’s what happened. There was no communication prior to that at all.”
On December 9, Ganguly told PTI that he had requested Kohli to reconsider his decision to step down as T20I captain. Kohli’s clarification seemed as if that wasn’t the case.
“When I decided to leave the T20I captaincy and approached the BCCI about my decision, it was received well,” Kohli said. “There was no offence or hesitation, I wasn’t told to reconsider it. It was received well; I was told it’s progressive and it’s (a step) in the right direction.
“Then I told them I’d like to continue in Tests and ODIs, unless the office bearers and selectors feel otherwise. My communication was clear in what I wanted to do. I gave them the option, that if they feel I shouldn’t (remain captain in Tests and/or ODIs), the decision is in their hands.”
India’s Test captain also confirmed that he was available for the ODIs in South Africa and all talk of him opting out were “lies” and there wasn’t even a suggestion of him skipping the games.
“I was and I am available for selection all this time,” Kohli said. “You should not be asking me this question, honestly, this question should be asked to people who are writing about these things and their sources, because as far as I’m concerned, I was always available.
“I have not had any communication with the BCCI saying I want to rest. There were a few things that came out in the past as well, that it was said I was attending some events or something that was absolutely not true either. All these people who are writing these things and their sources, to me they’re absolutely not credible.
(With Inputs From Agencies)
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