Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly, it has come to light, wanted to send a show-cause notice to former captain Virat Kohli after his fiery press conference in December.
Virat Kohli in a interaction with the media, alleged miscommunication between him and the board over his decision to quit T20I captaincy and removal from ODI captaincy.
Sourav Ganguly wanted to issue show cause notice to Virat Kohli, seeking an explanation for his comments wherein he also contradicted the former skipper’s claims. While Ganguly had said he had told Kohli not to quit T20I captaincy in September 2021, Kohli said no one from the board had urged to not give up the top job after the T20 World Cup.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah intervened and convinced Ganguly against sending a show-cause notice to Virat Kohli, India Today understands.
Jay Shah’s recommendation came as the board did not want to have a negative impact on Team India who were involved in a high-profile Test series in South Africa after Kohli’s explosive press conference.
Notably, Kohli had said he wanted to continue as ODI and Test captain despite giving up T20I captaincy. However, he was sacked as ODI captain and was replaced by Rohit Sharma.
In a dramatic turn of events, Kohli also quit as India’s Test captain earlier this month following the team’s series defeat to South Africa in South Africa.
Earlier in December, Virat Kohli had created a stir just before Team India departed to South Africa in a press conference wherein he discussed his decision to quit T20I captaincy and the way in which he was sacked as India’s ODI captain.
Kohli had said no one from the board had urged him to stay on as T20I captain when he went to the top brass with his decision just before the T20 World Cup. The former skipper also said that the chief selector, Chetan Sharma, had told him about the selectors’ decision to remove him as ODI captain only 90 minutes before they sat down to pick a Test team for the South Africa tour.
“About the T20I captaincy, I first approached the BCCI explaining my point of view, thought process and reasons. And at that point, it was received very well. There was no offence. There was no hesitancy. I was not told to not leave the T20I captaincy rather it was received as a progressive call. In the right direction,” Kohli had said.
