Former Indian captain and BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has said that the Indian board was not ready for Virat Kohli to step down from the Test captaincy, which was his personal decision.
Ganguly’s statements came after the Rohit Sharma-led team India suffered a 209-run defeat to Australia in the World Test Championship final, which led to fans calling for the reinstatement of Virat Kohli as India’s Test captain.
Sourav Ganguly Opened Up About Virat Kohli Leaving The Test Captaincy
For the unversed, following India’s defeat in the WTC Final 2023, fans on social media have been sharing details about Kohli’s record as captain in an attempt to justify why he should be reinstated as the captain of the Indian Test team.
Notably, Virat finished his captaincy tenure as the 4th-most successful captain in the history of Test cricket, with 40 victories and 11 draws in 68 matches as the Indian captain. Kohli ranks third among all 29 Test captains who have led a team in 40 or more matches in terms of win percentage (50%).
Meanwhile, speaking in a recent interaction with Aaj Tak, the former Indian captain hailed Kohli for playing fearless cricket. He said:
“Kohli was a very good captain, India did really well under Kohli & Shastri, India played with a fearless attitude and showed guts in England & Australia“.
Further, Ganguly revealed details about Kohli leaving his Test captaincy. Ganguly revealed how the Indian board wasn’t prepared for him to leave the captaincy. He said:
“BCCI were not prepared for Virat Kohli leaving the Test captaincy. It was unexpected for us also after the South Africa tour. Only Virat Kohli can reveal why he left the captaincy. There is no point talking about this now because Virat Kohli left the Test captaincy. Selectors had to appoint an India captain. “
Ganguly also praised Rohit’s captaincy, he said:
“At that time, Rohit Sharma looked the best alternate. He’s won five IPLs. Whenever he had been handed the opportunity to captain, like in the Asia Cup, he’s won. He was the best option. He’s led the team in the WTC Final as well this time around, even though we lost. We reached the World Cup semifinal, even though I didn’t play well. Before that (2021) we hadn’t even qualified (for the knockouts). I have my faith in Rohit. Only he and MS Dhoni have won the IPL five times. No one else.”
