BCCI sack Virat Kohli from ODI captaincy, replaced by Rohit Sharma: Know Why?

BCCI sack Virat Kohli from ODI captaincy, replaced by Rohit Sharma: Know Why?.

The last few days in Indian cricket has been nothing short of turmoil. In fact, the last few months went in the same order as multiple changes in the team were made. While a few were personal, the others were forcefully made to ensure the betterment of the team and squad.

In the recent row of the rift, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to replace Virat Kohli from the One Dayers captaincy making a way for long deserving Rohit Sharma. A short statement from the cricket board was made at the end of the announcement, for the appointment of India’s new ODI skipper, of India’s Test squad for the tour of South Africa.

“The All-India Senior Selection Committee also decided to name Mr Rohit Sharma as the Captain of the ODI & T20I teams going forward.” This is all what the Indian cricket board said in the announcement of Rohit Sharma, the new limited-overs Indian squad.

But, do you also feel that the skipper of as big as Virat Kohli’s stature can be forced to leave his ODI captaincy in this manner? If you reckon there’s a backstory to this, you are right and let’s dive deep into it.

BCCI didn’t wanted Virat to step down as T20I captain:

It all begin on September 16, 2021, before the start of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021, when Virat Kohli himself decided to relinquish his T20I leadership following the World Cup. Though he said that he talked to the BCCI, coach Ravi Shastri and Rohit Sharma about his decision, however, not everyone was on the same page.

The BCCI had already warned Virat not to leave his T20I captaincy. The cricket board wanted to keep him going as the captain of India in all three formats while it was never the case with Virat Kohli.

“We had requested Virat not to step down as T20 captain but he didn’t want to continue as captain,” BCCI president Sourav Ganguly told PTI. 

As many say, there can’t be two different captains for two very similar formats (ODI and T20I). It is understood that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are the captains whose ways of thinking are pole apart. They do not follow the same pattern nor do they think alike. However, the end viewpoint of both the captain’s is the same.

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BCCI sack Virat Kohli from ODI captaincy, replaced by Rohit Sharma: Know Why?.

With two massive World Cup’s lined ahead, the selectors and BCCI didn’t want two white ball captains. T20 World Cup in 2022 in Australia and ODI World Cup 2023 is going to be huge for the country.

“So, the selectors felt that they cannot have two white-ball captains in two white-ball formats. That’s too much of leadership,” Ganguly added.

“Yes, we did consider that but if you look at Rohit’s record in whatever ODIs he has captained for India [eight wins in ten games], it’s very good,” Ganguly said when asked about Virat’s records as the captain in the 50-overs format.

However, Ganguly in the end asserted on having two captains for two white-ball formats could have been dangerous and no team can afford that destruction.

“Bottom line – there can’t be two white-ball captains..” asserted the former Indian captain.

It has also been learnt that the BCCI approached Virat Kohli to voluntarily step down as the ODI captain and the cricket board gave him at least 48-hours to consider the decision, however, the cricketer didn’t reply and hence the board appointed Rohit Sharma at the 49th hour, the new leader of India’s white-ball squad.

Now as the appointment has been done and there’s the end of the debate about the captaincy of team India. Rohit Sharma will lead India in every white ball match while Virat Kohli will remain intact as the leader of red-ball games. 

Moreover, this is a massive jump for Rohit Sharma in the last few months. Besides being appointed as the leader of the white-ball format, he has also replaced Ajinkya Rahane as the vice-captain of India’s Test squad.

It will be interesting to see how Rohit Sharma takes his decisions, having a full-time leadership role and how his vision pans ahead for team India.

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