Sourav Ganguly, president of the BCCI, stated on Thursday that after Virat Kohli refused to continue as India’s T20 captain, the selectors decided to give Rohit Sharma the ODI captaincy because the national team couldn’t afford “too much leadership” with two captains in the short overs format.
The BCCI appointed Rohit as the ODI captain for the 2023 ODI World Cup on Wednesday, and Ganguly addressed the subject in an interview with PTI, saying that the incumbent had been spoken to and has accepted the decision.
“We asked Virat Kohli not to stand down as T20 captain, but he refused. As a result, the selectors decided that two white-ball captains in two white-ball formats were incompatible. That’s an excessive amount of leadership “According to PTI, BCCI President and former India captain.
After India’s disappointing World Cup campaign in October-November, Kohli stepped down as T20 captain.
According to Ganguly, the selectors believed that having many leaders in the white-ball format would cause confusion, which is why the Chetan Sharma-led committee recommended that only one leader be used.
“I’m not sure what they (selectors) were thinking (about the confusion). That’s how the decision was made to make Rohit the white-ball captain and Virat the red-ball captain “Ganguly went on to say.
So, how does he view Rohit as an ODI captain? Ganguly declined to make any predictions, but expressed confidence in the new skipper’s ability.
“It’s quite tough to forecast. I wish him the best of luck and hope he succeeds “he stated.
Was it taken into account, however, given Kohli has a good ODI captaincy record, with a victory rate of over 70% in 95 games?
“Yes, we considered it, but Rohit’s record in whatever ODIs he has captained for India is outstanding.” In the end, there can’t be two captains of the white-ball team.
The sensitive topic of the team’s failure to win an ICC Trophy during Kohil’s stint as captain was also raised, but the Board President declined to reveal the facts of the conversation.
“I can’t go into detail about what was discussed and what the selectors stated,” he explained, “but this is the key reason for Rohit being named white-ball captain, and Virat accepted it.”
The president of the BCCI, as well as the chairman of selectors, spoke to Virat and informed him of the BCCI’s decision.
“I have spoken to Virat directly, and Chairman of Selectors Chetan Sharma has also spoken to him on the matter,” he concluded.
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In the Test format, Rohit also replaced Ajinkya Rahane as Kohli’s deputy, which was expected given Rahane’s poor form with the bat.
