A few years ago, there was a big controversy between Sourav Ganguly and Virat Kohli over the captaincy of the Indian cricket team. This happened when Virat Kohli decided to step down as captain from all formats. Sourav Ganguly, who was the BCCI President at that time, recently shared details about his conversation with Virat regarding the captaincy issue.
Virat’s Captaincy Challenges: A Summary
Virat Kohli, a star player for Team India, had led the team in all three formats of cricket after Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Despite achieving significant success under Virat’s captaincy, including becoming the number-1 team in every format and winning matches on foreign grounds, the team couldn’t secure a victory in any ICC tournament.
In simpler terms, there was a disagreement between Sourav Ganguly and Virat Kohli about the captaincy, leading to Virat stepping down. Despite Virat’s successful leadership, the Indian team faced challenges in winning ICC tournaments during his tenure as captain.
Sourav Ganguly and Virat’s Chat on Captaincy
Virat Kohli, before the ICC T20 World Cup 2021, said he’d stop being the T20 captain. India lost, and Virat chose to quit T20 captaincy. Sourav Ganguly, BCCI President, talked to Virat. Ganguly clarified he didn’t remove Virat but suggested leaving white-ball cricket captaincy. Virat agreed and left ODI captaincy too.
Rohit Sharma then became the captain for all formats. This chat between Ganguly and Virat was discussed during Dadagiri Unlimited Season 10. In summary, Virat stepped down from captaincy after a conversation with Ganguly, and Rohit took over, marking a significant change in Indian cricket team leadership.
Leadership Struggles Continue
Following Virat Kohli‘s departure, Team India has struggled to find a single captain for all three formats. The BCCI has frequently changed captains for different series over the past two years. In the upcoming South Africa tour in December, Suryakumar Yadav is the T20 captain, KL Rahul is the ODI captain, and Rohit Sharma leads in the Test format.
The continuous rotation of captains reflects the ongoing search for stability and a long-term leader for the Indian cricket team across all formats. The dynamic captaincy changes highlight the challenges in identifying a successor to Virat Kohli’s comprehensive leadership role.