New Delhi, Jan 22: The captaincy saga stirred controversy in Indian cricket throughout the month of December after Virat Kohli was removed as skipper of the one-day team.
The 33-year-old Virat Kohli has stepped down as Test captain of the side, sending shocking waves across the cricket fraternity earlier this month.
Earlier in the week, a report emerged that Sourav Ganguly wanted to send a show-cause notice to Kohli ahead of the South Africa series, following Kohli’s comments on the saga during the pre-tour press conference. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President has now broken silence on the situation.
According to media reports when contacted Ganguly for a comment on the report that has emerged lately, he replied: “Not true.”
Last year, Kohli had stepped down as the T20I captain and then he was removed as the ODI leader as the selectors wanted one captain for the white-ball format.
A day after Kohli was removed as the ODI captain, BCCI President Ganguly had told that he had indeed spoken to Virat regarding the leadership change, adding that he had requested Virat to also not give up the T20I captaincy.
However, Kohli, in a press conference before Team India geared up to depart for South Africa, contradicted Ganguly saying he was never asked to leave the T20I captaincy.
When Kohli stepped down as Test captain last week, Ganguly – taking to his Twitter account – had insisted that it was the cricketer’s “personal decision.”
The BCCI President also said the board respects Kohli’s decision. “Under Virat’s leadership, Indian cricket has made rapid strides in all formats of the game ..his decision is a personal one and BCCI respects it immensely ..he will be an important member to take this team to newer heights in the future. A great player. well done ..@BCCI @imVkohli,” Ganguly had tweeted.
