ODI Captaincy: Kohli Drops Bombshell, Rubbishes BCCI Chief Ganguly’s Claim

Mumbai: Virat Kohli, who was removed from Team India’s ODI captaincy recently, dropped a bombshell at the virtual press conference on Wednesday.

India’s most successful captain claimed he was contacted just an hour and a half before selection of the squad for South Africa tour.

“The chief selector (Chetan Sharma) discussed the Test team… The five selectors then told me I will not be ODI captain,” said Kohli, who had announced a couple of months earlier that relinquish the India T20 captaincy post the T20 World Cup.

Kohli went on to state that he was not asked by Sourav Ganguly to remain T20 captain, as the BCCI president had claimed.

“I communicated to the BCCI before giving up T20I captaincy. I told them my point of view. The BCCI received it very well, saying it’s a progressive step. I told them I will continue as ODI captain & Test captain and stated clearly that if the office-bearers or selectors don’t want me to handle either of the responsibility, I am fine with it… I wasn’t told not to give up T20I captaincy,” Kohli said, thereby rubbishing Ganguly’s statement.

Rohit Sharma was named ODI captain for the South Africa leg, while Kohli will continue to lead in Test matches.

India will play three Tests, beginning December 26, followed by three ODIs.

An injury, however, has ruled Rohit out of the ODIs, while Kohli said he was available for the 50-over matches.