BCCI had requested Virat Kohli to not step down as T20I skipper, but he did not agree: Sourav Ganguly

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly has opened up on the selectors’ decision to name Rohit Sharma as India’s ODI skipper, replacing Virat Kohli. Ganguly, on December 9, confirmed that the decision of Rohit’s appointment was one that the BCCI and the Chetan Sharma-headed selection panel “took together”.

On December 8, the board named an 18-member squad for the upcoming South Africa Test series, alongside which the decision of the ODI captaincy transfer from Kohli to Rohit was also announced. “The All-India Senior Selection Committee also decided to name Mr Rohit Sharma as the Captain of the ODI & T20I teams going forward,” read BCCI’s tweet.

Ever since then, it was the first time an official word came from BCCI’s side as President Ganguly said: “It’s a call that the BCCI and the selectors took together. Actually, the BCCI had requested Virat to not step down as the T20I skipper but obviously, he did not agree. And the selectors then did not feel it right to have two different captains for two white-ball formats,” as quoted by Timesnownews.

Ganguly expressed his gratitude towards Kohli for his contributions as India’s limited-overs captain, while he went on to add that the board has “full faith” in Rohit’s abilities as skipper.

“So, it was decided that Virat will continue as Test captain and Rohit will take over as the white-ball captain. I as President personally spoke to Virat Kohli and the chairman of selectors has also spoken to him.

“We have full faith in Rohit Sharma’s leadership abilities, and Virat will continue as the Test captain. We as BCCI are confident that Indian cricket is in good hands. We thank Virat Kohli for his contributions as captain in the white-ball format,” the BCCI president added.

Rohit, who also took over the Test vice-captaincy from an out-of-form Ajinkya Rahan, recently led India to a 3-0 victory against New Zealand in the home T20I series in his first assignment as the team’s full-time captain after Kohli stepped down post the conclusion of the T20 World Cup 2021. India are in line to face South Africa next for three Tests and as many ODIs, with the series starting on December 26 with the first Test.