Batting great Sunil Gavaskar has claimed that BCCI president Sourav Ganguly needs to come out and clear the air about why there is discrepancy after Virat Kohli’s contradicts his statement in the press conference on Wednesday. The Indian cricket is under the scanner after Kohli’s explosive presser which raised several questions on the BCCI and president Ganguly. Earlier, this month, the 33-year-old was sacked as ODI captain and the day after that Ganguly claimed that BCCI had asked Kohli to not quit the T20I captaincy in September and the selectors had to drop him from the 50-overs captaincy as they want a single captain for white-ball formats. While Kohli had, however, contradicted Ganguly’s statement during his explosive press conference on Wednesday ahead of departure for the South Africa Test series.
“I think it (Kohli’s comment) actually doesn’t bring the BCCI into the picture. I think it’s the individual who has to be asked where he got the impression he had conveyed such a message to Kohli. So, that’s the only thing,” Gavaskar told ‘India Today’. “Yes, he (Ganguly) is the BCCI president and surely he should be asked why there is this discrepancy. He is probably the best person to ask about the discrepancy in what you seem to have to say and what the Indian captain has said,” he added.
ALSO READ | Sunil Gavaskar Laments Gossip-mongering in Indian Cricket
Kohli’s comments had exposed the simmering tension between him and the BCCI officials after he was removed as ODI skipper as well earlier this month. The 33-year-old stated that the selectors informed him about his removal from ODI captaincy 90 minutes before the Test team’s selection for the South Africa tour.
However, Gavaskar feels that there shouldn’t be any controversy regarding that matter as selectors had complete authority in the selection committee meetings.
“What is the controversy here. As long as the chairman of selectors had told him clearly that we are not considering you for ODI captaincy now, that’s perfectly fine. It is the selectors who have complete authority is selection committee meetings. The captain is just a co-opted non-voting member,” Gavaskar said. “As long as it’s not something that he (Kohli) has not found out from the media or as it happened in the past that the commander of a passenger flight announced it. I think he has been told by the chairman of the selection committee that he is not going to be the captain, I think that is absolutely okay,” he added.
Also Read | A Timeline of Virat Kohli vs BCCI Saga – From Being Sacked as ODI Skipper to the Explosive PC
The former India captain believes that it’s time for the BCCI to start clearing the channels of communication to avoid something which is happening at the moment.
“I don’t know what these people wanted to do. As long as there has been communication between the chairman of selection committee and him, it’s the decent thing to do,” he added. Gavaskar pointed out that it is time the BCCI starts clear channels of communication to avoid any such fiasco in future.
“Yes, it always helps to have a clear line of communication so that there is no speculation. So from now, from what has happened, there should be a clear line of communication and the chairman of the selection committee can come down and say why he has been picked and why he has not been picked. “Sometimes, even if that is not needed, a press release is also good enough. A good press release giving all the reasons makes life a lot easier,” the former captain said.
Get all the IPL news and Cricket Score here
.