India Tour of South-Africa – Why Virat Kohli Sacked? The last 48 hours in Indian cricket had all the drama of biggest soap opera on the Indian television screens. According to InsideSport sources, two top BCCI officials & Chairman of Selection committee Chetan Sharma called Virat Kohli and asked him to step down from the ODI captaincy. But Kohli did not respond back – which led to he being sacked from the Indian ODI captaincy – Check what exactly happened & why Kohli was unceremoniously sacked?
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India Tour of South-Africa: Inside Story of why Virat Kohli was sacked as India’s ODI captain?
Why Virat Kohli was Sacked? Though the writing was on the wall for sometime but no one expected that India’s most successful ODI captain will get such an unceremonious exit. InsideSport reached out to sources in BCCI to check the exact reason of Kohli’s sacking?
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First thing first – InsideSport in September had reported that Kohli may have left T20 captaincy on his own but BCCI is not interested in continuing with him also as a ODI captain.
The website had also confirmed that right before India tour of South Africa, Rohit Sharma will be handed ODI captaincy as well.
A very senior BCCI official informed InsideSport on Wednesday night that, ’No way we would have continued with separate T20 & ODI captains. BCCI always wanted consistency in leadership & thought process. Everyone saw, we could not succeed in big events & T20 World Cup was the end of any debate. The selectors are also in favor of Rohit Sharma as White-Ball leader & we are confident under him team will deliver great results in big ICC events’, informed the BCCI official.
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But when asked – was the separation amicable like was the case of T20 captaincy?
“I don’t want to comment on that. Can only say decision has been taken in the best interest of the Indian cricket”, added the top BCCI official.
InsideSport further checked what exactly transpired in the last 48 hours. And One other BCCI official and a member of selection committee spilled the beans.
Why Virat Kohli was Sacked? The top board officials spoke to both Kohli & coach Rahul Dravid before taking the decision. One of the official informed InsideSport that Kohli was explained the thought process of the board & the selectors.
He was told that the selectors wanted absolute clarity on the leadership & complete separation between the Test & the white-ball teams.
Sources told InsideSport that discussions with Kohli mainly centred around the Test squad for South Africa but the ODI captaincy bit did come up.
He was told in no uncertain terms that he should give up the ODI leadership since it wasn’t prudent to have two captains in white ball cricket. But he refused to budge.
InsideSport has further learnt the board officials & chairman of selection committee kept waiting for Kohli’s call for the next 48 hours.
But that call never came in. Finally on Wednesday evening, ,miffed BCCI announced the Test squad. And just one line was mentioned below that Rohit Sharma will take over as ODI & T20 Captain of India.
“It’s clear BCCI was not too happy with Kohli. It’s clear that he was fired. If not, then where was the need of annoucing Rohit Sharma as ODI captain when only test squad is being announced. It’s clear all was not well between the BCCI & Kohli on captaincy issue”, said one of the top Indian test cricketer.
Neither on his social accounts or otherwise Kohli has released any statement on the development. Not even an customary congralutary message has come from Kohli’s side for new leader of the pack Rohit Sharma.
It’s clear Kohli has been left shell-shocked by the sudden decision by the BCCI.
There is now a strong buzz that Kohli may make himself unavailable for the three-match ODI series that follows the Tests in South Africa – Keep following the space for more developments on the story.
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