Former BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has refuted the claims of removing Indian star batter Virat Kohli from his captaincy duties. Kohli's shocking exit from the leadership role following India's Test series defeat against South Africa in 2022 created a lot of buzz, with the claims of the BCCI sacking him from the post.
Sourav Ganguly clarified in a show hosted by him that he didn't have any role in Kohli's captaincy saga. He further revealed Virat Kohli's decision to step down from leadership role in white-ball cricket (ODI and T20I).
Former India captain said, "I didn't remove Virat from captaincy. I have said this several times. He (Kohli) was not interested to lead in T20Is.
"So, after he made that decision, I told him, if you're not interested to lead in T20Is, it's better if you step down from entire white-ball cricket. Let there be a white-ball captain and a red-ball captain."
Virat Kohli renounced his captaincy duties in T20Is following India's early exit from the 2021 T20 World Cup.
A few weeks later, the 35-year-old was surprisingly sacked from ODI captaincy and Rohit Sharma replaced him in all formats.
Ganguly also said earlier that he expects Rohit to lead the Men in Blue in next year's T20 World Cup despite the 36-year-old's reservations about playing T20 international cricket.
"Rohit Sharma should be the captain of India because he's done so well in the World Cup. He's a leader. So I expect, and I presume that he will continue as captain till the T20 World Cup," Ganguly said at an event earlier this week.
Virat Kohli success as India's captain
Virat Kohli is one of the most successful captains for Team India. After taking over the captaincy reins from MS Dhoni in 2017, he led India to World No.1 in Test rankings.
Kohli was the first Asian captain to win a Test series against Australia in their own backyard in 2019. He holds the record for most wins as an Indian captain in Tests, with 40 wins and a winning percentage of 58.52% in 68 matches.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli has been rested for the white-ball series against South Africa and will return to action for two-match Test series at Rainbow nation.
