Notably, ahead of the Indian team’s departure for South Africa, Kohli had claimed that no one from the board or the selection committee had asked him to reconsider his decision regarding withdrawal from the T20I captaincy. By stating that, the then India Test skipper had contradicted Ganguly, who had said that he personally requested Kohli not to leave the leadership role in the shortest format.
Further, Kohli also said that the chief selector, Chetan Sharma, had informed him about the selectors’ decision to remove him as ODI captain only 90 minutes before they sat down to pick the Test squad for the South Africa tour.
As per India Today, the comments made by Kohli in front of the media didn’t go down well with the BCCI, and Ganguly wanted to issue show cause notice to Kohli, seeking an explanation for his comments.
However, then BCCI secretary Jay Shah intervened and convinced Ganguly not to send a show-cause notice to the Delhi-lad as the board did not want to negatively impact Team India, who were involved in a high-profile Test series in the rainbow nation.
Not to mention, after India lost the three-match series 1-2 against Proteas, Kohli also stepped down as the Test captain. While announcing his withdrawal from Test leadership, Kohli had issued a statement on social media where he had written: “Everything has to come to a halt at some stage, and for me as Test captain of India, it’s now. It’s been 7 years of hard work, toil and relentless perseverance every day to take the team in the right direction. I’ve done the job with absolute honesty and left nothing out there. Everything has to come to a halt at some stage, and for me as Test Captain of India, it’s now.”
After this, Ganguly also tweeted and mentioned that Kohli’s decision is personal and he will be an important member of Team India.
“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.
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