BCCI: Caught and bowled Kohli on ODI captaincy row  

CHENNAI:  Just as the Indian team’s media manager was about to close the press conference, Virat Kohli did something not many previous Indian captains have.

He reminded the media manager about a few potential unanswered questions on the chat window in Zoom.

It was that kind of a press conference. Thanks to 10 days or so of constant chatter, the space had become a sort of wild west.

A captain was sacked, the other captain became injured and the board president, Sourav Ganguly, spun his own narrative... by the time the press conference started, the Zoom room had maxxed out.

“This meeting has reached a maximum of 100 participants. Please try again later,” came the error message.

Inside the room, Kohli was point black, forthright and didn’t hide behind cliches.

At the end of it, he even managed himself a chuckle at a query about his relationship with Rohit Sharma.

Apart from clearing the air on a number of issues, he also contradicted Ganguly’s views on asking him to reconsider the T20I captaincy. 

First up, he said he ‘was and remains available for selection’ in the one-day leg of the South Africa series. He called the story about him making himself unavailable for selection ‘lies’.

“All these people who are writing these things and their sources, to me they’re absolutely not credible,” he said.

“I am available for selection (...). As I said, this question should be asked to people who are writing about these things and... writing lies.”

The other topic of intrigue throughout the week had been Kohli’s ouster as ODI skipper.

That the development was dismissed in a throwaway line in a BCCI press release only added to the subplot.

While Kohli opined he understood the rationale behind dropping him as ODI captain — “a lack of ICC titles” — he said he was sacked over a phone call while discussing the Test squad. 

“Whatever was said about the communication that happened during the decision that was made was inaccurate,” he said.

“I was contacted one-and-a-half hours before the selection meeting on the (December) 8th for the Test series. There was no prior communication to me at all since I announced the T20I captaincy decision until the 8th, when I got a call.”

After Chetan Sharma (chief selector) and he finished talking about it, Kohli said ‘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’.

In the selection call afterwards, we chatted about it briefly. That’s what happened. There was no communication prior to that at all.” 

Undiminished hunger

He also strongly contradicted Ganguly’s claim that the board had urged him to reconsider stepping down as T20I skipper. “(...) 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. (In an interview earlier in the week, Ganguly told a news channel: “I personally requested him (Kohli) not to give up the T20I captaincy. Obviously, he felt the workload. Which is fine, he has been a great cricketer...”

Coming back to the press conference, Kohli admitted that the white noise could be unsettling ahead of a tour like this but said his motivation remained undiminished.

“Nothing can derail me from being motivated to play for India,” he said.

“To perform to the best of my abilities, nothing has and nothing can derail me from that. Lot of things that happen on the outside are not ideal and not always how one expects them to be. But you have to understand that there is only so much you can do as an individual. We have to keep the things in right perspective.” 

Some of that white noise pertains to a supposed rift between the two power centres in Indian cricket: Rohit and himself.

“I am tired of answering the same question over and over again over the last 2-2.5 years. I can say with absolute guarantee that no action of mine will be to bring down the team as long as I play the game.”  

The ball is now in the BCCI’s court to come out with a clarification of their own.

How it unfolded 

• September 16: Virat Kohli resigns from T20I captaincy, expresses desire to lead India in 2023 ODI World Cup.

• November 9: Rohit Sharma appointed as T20I captain against New Zealand, Virat Kohli rested for limited-overs and first Test.

• December 2: Kohli joins the team for the second Test against New Zealand.

• December 8: BCCI removes Kolhi as ODI skipper via a press release with the Test Squad for South Africa tour.

• December 9:  BCCI president Sourav Ganguly says that he requested Kohli not to quit T20I captaincy.

• December 13: Rohit Sharma injured, ruled out of Test series.

• December 13: Reports say that Kohli likely to opt out of ODIs in South Africa.

• December 15: Kohli says BCCI removed him as captain with a phone call 90 minutes before selection meeting, confirms availability for selection in ODI team.