Former India captain Virat Kohli has sensationally hit back at the former BCCI President Sourav Ganguly and former chief selector Chetan Sharma, by saying that he wouldn’t judge his captaincy solely on the ICC trophies count, as he feels the ex-BCCI top brass did.
The captaincy saga between Virat Kohli and Ganguly played out dramatically in the public.
He led India in 4 ICC tournaments, failing to clinch a single title. Under Kohli, India lost the 2017 Champions Trophy final, knocked out in the 2019 World Cup semi-final, lost the 2021 World Test Championship final, and failed to reach the semis in the 2021 T20 World Cup.
Kohli, though, changed the dynamics of the Indian team, making India a world-beater, both home and away across formats. He was the big reason why the fitness of the Indian players improved.
He says while some consider him as a “failed captain” because he doesn’t have any ICC title to show, he’s happy with the culture change he inculcated in Indian cricket.
Speaking on RCB Podcast Season 2, “Look, you play to win tournaments. I captained in Champions Trophy 2017, 2019 World Cup, I captained in World Test Championship, and T20 World Cup in 2021. After three [four] ICC tournaments, I was considered as a failed captain.
“I never judged myself from that point of view; what we ended up achieving as a team and as a cultural change that always going to be a matter of pride for me. A tournament happens for a certain period of time but a culture happens over a long period of time and for that, you need consistency for that you need more characters than just winning a tournament,” he elaborated.
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The Kohli-Ganguly drama was one of the shocking ones in Indian cricket. After Kohli stepped down as the T20I captain, he was removed as the ODI captain by the BCCI. That, Kohli said, was informed to him only before a selection meeting for the Test tour of South Africa, after which he also stepped down as the Test skipper.
“I won a World Cup as a player. I won the Champions Trophy as a player. I have been part of the team that has won five Test maces. If you look at that point of view there have been people, who have never won a World Cup,” he further said.
Currently, his eyes are on the WTC final and the World Cup 2023, which will be hosted by India.
