Virat Kohli’s ODI captaincy saga has probably made the loudest noise in the cricketing circle this year. The way he got sacked was a massive surprise element. Even bigger was his statement in the press conference where he claimed no prior communication from the BCCI on this matter.
Following Virat’s blockbuster presser, fans are going berserk on social media while the experts and foreign cricketers are coming forward with their opinion on the entire episode. South Africa spinner Tabraiz Shamsi is the latest person to join the bandwagon.
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Shamsi has played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore under Virat’s leadership and believes that the former captain is ‘as good as he is’. His comment came as a reply to a fan’s tweet, who wrote, “The safer option for Virat would’ve been to side with Ganguly’s version of the story. Clearly, Virat isn’t that kind of a person, on and off the field.”
What Kohli had said in the presser?
Before leaving for South Africa, Kohli spoke with media personnel and addressed his removal as ODI captain. On being asked about his sacking, he said,
“Whatever was said about the communication that happened about the decision that was made was inaccurate. I was contacted one-and-a-half hours before the selection meeting on December 8 for the Test series and there was no prior communication to me at all since I announced my decision on T20I captaincy.”
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“When I left the T20I 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 viewpoint was received very nicely. There was no offence, no hesitation and not for once was I told that ‘you should not leave T20 captaincy’,” Kohli added.
How does it contradict Ganguly’s statement?
BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, while speaking with PTI, had said the board requested Kohli to continue as the T20I captain.
“We had requested Virat not to step down as T20 captain but he didn’t want to continue as captain. So, the selectors felt that they cannot have two white-ball captains in two white-ball formats. That’s too much of leadership,” Ganguly had said.
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