The Board of Control for Cricket in India treasurer Arun Dhumal has stated there was “no pressure” from the governing body or the selection committee led by Chetan Sharma for Indian skipper Virat Kohli to relinquish his captaincy post from Test cricket.
Kohli left a shock-bomb on January 15 evening as he followed his decision to quit the T20I captaincy with the move to also step down from the Test leadership post after a mighty successful tenure.
He made his announcement via a statement over social media, noting down his journey over seven years as a Test captain and expressing his gratitude towards BCCI as well as his strongest confidants Ravi Shastri and MS Dhoni.
While Shastri was India’s head coach for the major part of Kohli’s stint, Dhoni is the one who had identified him as his successor back in late 2014.
“I want to thank the BCCI for giving me the opportunity to lead my country for such a long period of time and more importantly to all the team-mates who bought into the vision I had for the team from day one and never gave up in any situation. You guys have made this journey so memorable and beautiful,”
Kohli said as part of his statement.
With the recent controversies in Indian cricket leading to speculation of a rift between Kohli and the existing BCCI regime, Dhumal, the treasurer, made it a point to clarify that this decision has no interference from the Indian board or the selectors. Dhumal added they would’ve personally liked to see Kohli continue to hold his position for next few years as well but respect his call as he has decided to move on.
“Virat Kohli had no pressure from the BCCI or selectors to step down. It’s his decision and we respect that, but he could have carried on for another two to three years as captain,”
News18 quoted him as saying.
Kohli’s decision to quit the Test captaincy is the concluding chapter of the series of exchanges that have happened between the captain and the BCCI. It all started with Kohli’s decision to put a timer on his T20I captaincy post for the end of the T20 World Cup in UAE.
Virat’s move was followed by BCCI and selectors’ own call to remove him from the ODI captaincy, with Sharma later clarifying that they did not want a split captaincy model in the white-ball arena. However, BCCI’s approach and communication with the media and fans regarding Kohli’s captaincy sacking and handing over the reigns to Rohit Sharma created a massive furore.
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Especially as contrasting statements came to light from Kohli and BCCI president Sourav Ganguly. In an interview with ANI, the chairman said he had urged Kohli not to let go of the T20I captaincy, a view that Sharma echoed when he did a press conference to announce India’s ODI squad for the tour of South Africa. But Kohli, when he did the customary pre-tour presser for the series, said he had no such discussions with BCCI or the selectors and that he was never discouraged from taking his call.
Kohli also said he was told of the selectors’ decision to remove him from the ODI captaincy only an hour and a half after the Test squad for the South Africa series was picked and that he had no prior conversations with the board in this regard.
Either way, Kohli stepping down across formats, especially Test cricket, signals the end of an era in Indian cricket. Kohli took over the Test captaincy full-time in early 2015 and led the country to 40 wins in 68 matches, including successive Test series wins in Australia.
