Virat Kohli getting replaced by Rohit Sharma as the skipper of the white-ball format has become one of the most talked-about topics on social media. Virat Kohli’s childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma slammed the BCCI and selectors for their lack of transparency and questionable handling of the recent captaincy shift.
On Wednesday, Rohit was given the full-time responsibility as India’s captain in limited-overs cricket. The senior selection committee headed by Chetan Sharma announced their decision while announcing the 18-member squad of team India for the upcoming tour to South Africa.
The move came out as a big surprise to everyone, as Virat Kohli had already stepped down from the T20I captaincy earlier this year and he has expressed his desire to lead the Indian cricket team in the ODI and Test format.
However, unlike before, the decision of Virat leaving the ODI captaincy was made by the BCCI. It was just a line at the end of the official release by the BCCI, announcing the Test squad for the upcoming South Africa tour. BCCI had Tweeted just one statement wherein the BCCI named Rohit Sharma as India’s new ODI captain.
“The All-India Senior Selection Committee also decided to name Mr Rohit Sharma as the Captain of the ODI & T20I teams going forward,” The BCCI had Tweeted.
Meanwhile, Virat’s coach Rajkumar Sharma revealed that he tried reaching out to Virat Kohli but failed to do so as his number is switched off for some reason. However, he also stated that Virat was very clear in his communication about which format he wanted to step down from when he made the big announcement. He said:
“I haven’t talked to him [Virat Kohli] yet. His phone is switched off for some reason. But as far as my opinion is concerned, he had specifically stepped down from T20 captaincy and the selectors should’ve straightaway asked him to step down from both the white-ball formats or not step down at all,”
Sharma also expressed his disappointment over the comments of the BCCI president regarding the BCCI having asked Kohli to not step down as the T20I skipper. Talking about the same, Sharma said:
“I read Sourav Ganguly’s comments recently that they had asked Kohli to not step down from T20I captaincy (before the World Cup). I don’t recall anything like that. This statement came as a surprise to me. There are different statements circulating around,”
Further, Rajkumar Sharma called out the BCCI for their non-transparency in the decision-making process. He said:
“The selection committee doesn’t provide a reason behind the decision. We don’t know what the management or the BCCI or the selectors want. There’s no clarification, no transparency at all.”
“It’s a pity how this has happened. He has been such a successful one-day captain,” he added.
For the unversed, while explaining the reason behind the sudden captaincy shift, Sourav Ganguly had said:
“It’s a call that the BCCI and the selectors took together. Actually, the BCCI had requested Virat to not step down as the T20I skipper but obviously, he did not agree. And the selectors then did not feel it right to have two different captains for two white-ball formats,”
He added:
“So it was decided that Virat will continue as Test captain and Rohit will take over as the white-ball captain. I as President personally spoke to Virat Kohli and the chairman of selectors has also spoken to him,”
Also Read: Sourav Ganguly Made A Big Statement On Removing Virat Kohli From ODI Captaincy
