Rohit Sharma has taken over as captain of the Indian one-day international team ahead of the team’s trip to South Africa. Kohli had previously held the position. Ahead of the 2022 World Cup, Virat Kohli will no longer be the leader of the Indian side in any of the limited-overs forms after he resigned from the position as captain of the ‘Men in Blue’ in Twenty20 International cricket earlier this year.
And, according to Saba Karim, a former Indian cricketer, Virat Kohli has been relieved of his role as one-day international captain. The 33-year-old Kohli himself announced that he was standing down as captain of the Indian team in Twenty20 international cricket but wanted to continue as the team’s one-day international captain. The failure to win an ICC Trophy, believes Karim, may have contributed to Kohli’s dismissal as India’s One-Day International captain.
“It is correct to state that Kohli has been fired. He made the news while relinquishing the T20I leadership, which might have cemented his decision not to continue as ODI captain as well. This implied that he wanted to keep his ODI captaincy. Failure to win an ICC trophy may have lost Virat Kohli the ODI leadership,” Saba Karim stated on Khelneeti.
“Rahul Dravid, I am convinced, would have spoken with Virat Kohli”
Saba Karim further believes that Indian head coach Rahul Dravid or any official from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) discussed divided leadership with Kohli. Karim finished by saying that Dravid is a guy who values open communication with his players.
“I am convinced that Rahul Dravid or someone from the BCCI would have discussed their intentions to introduce divided captaincy with Virat Kohli. Dravid has often emphasised the need of direct communication with his players. So, when it comes to making such an important choice, I’m sure someone would have spoken to Kohli,” Karim said.
BCCI gave 48 hours to Virat Kohli to make his decision
Reportedly, the BCCI urged Virat Kohli to announce his resignation as India’s ODI captain before the team announcements for the South African trip. Many media reports have claimed that the BCCI waited 48 hours before announcing Rohit as the new ODI captain, but Virat insisted on remaining as the ODI leader.
Specifically, the BCCI intended to offer Virat an honorable retirement from leadership. However, Virat’s unwillingness to stand down himself didn’t go down well with the BCCI executives, so they slapped the whip and terminated the “not-so-famous” captain. Virat’s gap with the board seems to have grown even wider, and it will be intriguing to watch how he responds going forward.
Fact-Check: Was Captain Kohli Given Only 2 Days To Resign As ODI Captain?
