Gurugram: Virat Kohli recently fired the first salvo against Sourav Ganguly since being removed from Team India’s ODI captaincy, rubbishing the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president’s statement that he had requested the former not to relinquish T20I leadership role.
Ganguly has opted not to react on Kohli’s serious allegation, but he did make a critical observation on the man who will lead India in the upcoming three-match Test series against South Africa.
“I like Virat Kohli’s attitude but he fights a lot,” the BCCI president said at an event in Gurugram on being asked which player has the best attitude.
Ganguly didn’t elaborate, leaving the interpretation to the public. Many were left wondering whether it was a reference to Kohli’s explosive press conference ahead of Team India’s departure for South Africa.
Asked about the selectors’ decision to replace him with Rohit Sharma as the ODI captain, Kohli said that the BCCI had welcomed his move to give up the T20I captaincy as a ‘progressive step’ and no one had asked him to reconsider his decision.
It was a direct contradiction of Ganguly’s claim that he had personally requested Kohli not to step down as T20I skipper. The BCCI chief had further said that the Board didn’t want two different captains in white-ball cricket, so Rohit was named leader in both 50-over and T20 formats.
It remains to be seen whether Kohli reacts to Ganguly’s ‘fights a lot’ comment.
The last has surely not been heard in the Ganguly versus Kohli ‘battle’.
