The Cricket Board and the Board of Trustees reserve the right to change the captain of the team if they are unable to deliver victories as expected. Virat Kohli may want to continue to captain myself. But it’s up to the cricket board, not him.
Captain Virat Kohli announced his retirement from T20 cricket last November. Didn’t Virat Kohli know that when he retires from T20 cricket, he will not be able to captain the team in ODIs of the same type? Did the Cricket Board not inform him? Sourav Ganguly, the current chairman of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and former captain of the Indian cricket team, has commented on this.
Ava said the board had decided that it would be appropriate to have one captain for Test matches and one captain for low-overs matches, as the ‘low OV racing’ T20 would be confusing to have separate captains for ODIs. He also said that he had spoken to captain Virat Kohli about this and asked him to continue as captain in all the matches without leaving the T20 tournament.
That is where the problem arises. When board chairman Sourav Ganguly told him that he had not spoken to him about it and that his captaincy had been removed from one-day cricket without his consent, he could not help but raise the question of who was lying.
It is not uncommon in the history of Indian cricket for captains to be abruptly removed and humiliated. This problem dates back to the 1930s, during the reign of Vijayanagara Maharaja, popularly known as ‘Vissi’. In 1970, due to his personal animosity, former India captain Vijay Mossant was replaced by Ajit Wadega as captain, replacing Mansoo Ali Khan Pataudi, who captained the West Indies.
The announcement of the removal of Venkatravan, the captain of the Indian team, and the appointment of Sunil Gavaskar as the captain was made by the pilot while the cricketers were flying in the plane. History has it that Kapil Dev was removed as captain and announced by Sunil Gavaskar, following the 1993 tour of Pakistan, without informing Captain Gavaskar, who was removed and re-appointed as captain by Kapil Dev.
Sourav Ganguly, who is accused of removing Virat Kohli without informing him, similarly faced humiliation. Jai Shah, the son of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and cricket board secretary, and coach Greg Chappell removed Sourav Ganguly and appointed Rahul Dravid as captain, sparking outrage and controversy.
So far, Virat Kohli has wanted to captain the ODI team until 2023 to remove the stigma of not being able to win the World Cup under his leadership. That is not to say that he does not deserve it.
Unlike T20, Virat Kohli has a record of captaincy in ODI cricket. India have won 65 of the 95 matches they have played under Ava so far. 70.43% success is a world record. There was no need for Ava to announce that she was retiring from T20 matches in a hurry. Goalie did not anticipate that he would lose his qualification to captain the ODI team when he withdrew from the T20 tournament.
Virat Kohli and cricketers should learn a lesson from former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Dhoni, who announced in 2008 that he would not hesitate to return to his hometown of Ranchi and play in the Ranji Trophy again if he is dropped from the team, has emerged as India’s premier captain. In addition, he resigned as ODI captain at the right time, giving Virat Kohli two and a half years to prepare for the 2019 World Cup. That’s the beauty of being a captain.
No one regrets removing Virat Kohli and making Rohit Chama the captain. But the approach taken by the Cricket Board is frowning. The mistake that can easily get your claim denied is to fail.
One last question. Who is lying – Virat Kohli, Sourav Ganguly?