BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has said selectors did not plan to change the captaincy for limited-overs:
We asked Virat Kohli not to retire from his position as T20I captain: Sourav Ganguly
No matter how India performed in the T20 World Cup, Virat Kohli would have been a white-ball captain had he not given up T20I captaincy. When Kohli removed himself from the captaincy position in the most compact format, the selectors separated the white- and red-ball leaders to prevent confusion.
“We (BCCI) had asked Virat not to quit his position as T20I captain. Therefore, there was no intention to switch captains. He resigned, however, as captain of T20I, and the selectors opted not to separate the limited-overs captaincy and instead decided to have total segregation,” Ganguly was quoted by the Indian Express.
There’s a theory that the inability to win an ICC competition, Kohli’s captaincy of limited-overs under scrutiny, and the outcome of the T20 World Cup could have played a role. However, it is also believed that the selectors were likely to have kept Kohli as captain across every format.
Ganguly expressed his satisfaction with the team’s performance across all formats under Kohli’s direction even though not winning an ICC competition was the only remaining part.
To aid Kohli in his quest to win the tournament, the BCCI hired MS Dhoni as the team director during this year’s T20 World Cup, a decision “completely and largely accepted” by India’s previous government white-ball captain.
India fell out of their participation in the T20 World Cup in the group phase. However, it would not have impacted Kohli’s place in the tournament.
As the latter was unable to remain as captain of the T20I, The selectors were forced to choose Rohit Sharma for the entire limited-overs cricket. “The main thing to remember is that you can’t have two captains of the white ball,” stated the former India captain.
Indian cricket is typically not utilized by captains with different names in different formats. This is commonplace both in England as well as Australia.
When asked if split captaincy or two power centers within the team could cause problems when they are in play, Ganguly answered to the contrary. India has had a split captaincy for two years, during which Kohli was captain of the Test team and Dhoni was the captain in limited-overs cricket.
The BCCI chief discussed communicating with Kohli regarding the ODI captaincy switch. “I talked to Kohli. The chief selector spoke directly to the chief selector,” declared the Board chief as he wished Rohit all the best and hoped that Rohit would do an excellent job.
Just three months earlier, when taking over as captain of the T20I, Kohli expressed his desire to be the captain of India in ODIs and Tests shortly.
“Understanding workload is an important aspect, and when you consider my enormous workload in the past 8-9 years playing in all three formats as well as having been captaining regularly for the past 5-6 years, I think I have to allow myself time to get capable of leading an Indian team in both Test as well as ODI cricket.”
He wrote on his Instagram on 16 September. He also decided to give up the Royal Challengers Bangalore captaincy in the IPL.
Kohli has been among the captains with the highest success in white-ball.
In 95 ODIs, he was a winner in 65. In 45 T20Is, he steered India in winning 27 times. However, a slump in form could be why the captain decided not to stay as captain of the T20Is and instead focused more on his bat.
In the last two years, He has scored 560 runs over 12 ODIs but has not scored a century. His average over this period is 46.66, which is well less than his career average of 59.07.
In 20 T20Is simultaneously, the player has recorded 594 runs at 49.50. In 13 Tests over the last two seasons, he recorded 599 runs, with the rate of 26.04.
Rohit has been Kohli’s for a long time assistant in limited-overs cricket as captain. He was in charge of the team for 19 T20Is and 10 ODIs before being given the full-time job in the recent 3-match series at home with New Zealand.
The series began with a clean sweep. The five IPL titles, including the Mumbai Indians and Mumbai Indians, could have Kohli’s successor.
Ganguly is confident of the South Africa tour.
In the meantime, Ganguly expressed confidence that India will do well in the forthcoming three-Test series in South Africa and refused to take too much notice of middle-order anxiety. “The team has been successful in Australia and are currently winning at 2-1 at the moment in England,” he said.
It was reported that the BCCI President also announced VVS Laxman’s selection as the director of the cricket academy in the National Cricket Academy, while Troy Cooley will as coaching the speed bowlers. “They were appointed. No new application is needed.”
