The news of the BCCI replacing Virat Kohli with Rohit Sharma as the ODI captain of the Indian cricket team has taken everyone by surprise. A lot has already been written and heard about the reasons why Virat Kohli was replaced by Rohit Sharma as the ODI skipper, however, the bottom line of the story is has Virat been sacked as India’s ODI captain?
Well, 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. There was no explanation, no details, no reasoning, just one line 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.
The All-India Senior Selection Committee also decided to name Mr Rohit Sharma as the Captain of the ODI & T20I teams going forward.#TeamIndia | @ImRo45 pic.twitter.com/hcg92sPtCa
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 8, 2021
The news was received with mixed reactions by the fans, while some fans welcomed the decision, others were simply disappointed with Virat Kohli’s termination as the skipper.
While some felt it was too early to take this decision, on the other hand, there were many who felt BCCI owes an explanation to the fans. Several experts also blamed the BCCI for playing ‘politics’ within the team.
Don’t think today was the day to sack Kohli as ODI captain, when the squad has not been named yet. For someone who won 65 of 95 games in charge, you could do this better.
— Saurabh Malhotra (@MalhotraSaurabh) December 8, 2021
That Virat Kohli despite a stupendous batting and captaincy record was dumped from ODI as a captain without even being told is shameful. BCCI is a political minefield. But that it should happen with ex-skipper Sourav Ganguly in charge is terrible. @imVkohli @SGanguly99
— Sanjay Jha (@JhaSanjay) December 9, 2021
I know the trophy drought has been long for Indian cricket but Virat Kohli took over ODI captaincy only in 2017.
— Prashanth S (@ps_it_is) December 8, 2021
If BCCI think that this is the way to win the next 2-3 ICC titles then so be it, but it’s not going to be it. Not when you disrespect Virat Kohli
— Sritama Panda (Ross Taylor’s Version) (@cricketpun_duh) December 8, 2021
Not here to comment on whether or not it was the right decision. How good or bad a captain Kohli was has no relevance here. It’s about a cricket board casually replacing a captain of nearly 5 years with a one-liner at the end of an email. How shitty is that? #bcci #ViratKohli
— Rohit Sankar (@imRohit_SN) December 8, 2021
Several media and news reports have been making rounds on social media, wherein it has been reported that Virat Kohli was given only 48 hours to step down from the position of the ODI captaincy. The reports also stated that the decision to step down as the ODI skipper didn’t go along too well with Virat, which resulted in a rift between the skipper and the board. The reports claim that when Virat refused to step down from the position, he was sacked by the board and Rohit was announced as the new ODI captain.
However, these “reports”, published by big media handles, are from untrusted “sources” and there has been no official word on these “speculations” and “rumors” from either a trusted source of the BCCI or from Virat himself. All these reports have quoted a statement from BCCI official that states that the board wanted ‘clarity’ between red-ball and white-ball format and thus this decision was taken.
“The BCCI wanted absolute clarity between red-ball and white-ball cricket. The BCCI wanted a complete (leadership) separation between the longest format and shorter formats to avoid any confusion. In the end, it was left to the selectors to take a call. They decided to appoint Rohit as new ODI captain,” a BCCI official was quoted as saying.
However, there is no statement in those articles that states or proves that the BCCI “sacked” Virat Kohli from the position or there is any rift between the board and Virat.
In our opinion, we should wait for an official statement on these ‘speculations’ and shouldn’t come to any conclusion. The BCCI is filled with some super genius minds including President Sourav Ganguly and the head coach Rahul Dravid, who would not do injustice to any player, especially a player of Virat Kohli’s stature. At this moment we should back Virat Kohli and have faith on the think tank of the BCCI.
