Kaif talks about Kohli's ODI captaincy saga; says his statements created storm and dragged Ganguly into it too

BCCI sacked Virat Kohli and made Rohit Sharma new ODI skipper on 8th December.

By Ankitjit Singh - 25 Dec, 2021

Former cricketer Mohammad Kaif gave his opinion on Virat Kohli’s ODI captaincy saga, saying that the Indian Test captain's press conference created a storm and Sourav Ganguly too got dragged into it. 

BCCI sacking Virat Kohli as the Indian ODI captain and unveiling Rohit Sharma as the new white-ball captain gave rise to many controversies. 

Virat Kohli-BCCI saga saw the twist after the Indian Test skipper revealed that there was no prior communication and he was informed one and a half hours before the BCCI released an official statement of announcing Rohit Sharma as the white-ball captain.

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What made Kohli’s press-conference shocking was that his statements didn’t match with what Sourav Ganguly said. The BCCI President said that he personally requested the Indian Test skipper to not give up the T20I captaincy but the former denied it. 

Since then many fans and pundits have given their opinion about the same and Mohammad Kaif is the latest entrant in the list. 

The former cricketer pointed out that Indian cricket has been in news for all the wrong reasons. He added that Kohli’s presser created a storm and dragged Sourav Ganguly too into it. 

"Lately, Indian cricket has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Indian captain Virat Kohli's press conference before leaving for South Africa created a storm and Sourav Ganguly too got dragged into it," Mohammad Kaif wrote in his column for India.com

Kaif mentioned that with all the controversies around, ‘trouble shooter’ Rahul Dravid is the best man to handle the ship of the Indian cricket team 

"Thankfully for Indian cricket, they had a trouble-shooter in place. We know him by the name of Rahul Dravid, the new Head Coach of the Indian cricket team. Having played with and under Rahul bhai, I can safely tell you that if there was ever a man to handle the ship of the Indian team, it is him,” he said. 

Kaif pointed out that Rahul Dravid has seen lots of ups and downs in his time as a former cricketer and skipper and is, therefore, the best man to handle things. He cited the example of him leading team under Greg Chappell and Rajasthan Royals’ match-fixing and spot-fixing controversies. 

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"I say this with quiet confidence as Dravid himself has seen a lot of ups and downs in his times as a former India cricketer and captain. He was leading India when Greg Chappell was around as a coach. He was captain of Rajasthan Royals when the spot-fixing and match-fixing controversy happened in 2013," he said. 

Mohammad Kaif said that such phases tested Rahul Dravid but he came out on the top as his communication skills, ability to handle egos and selflessness worked in his favour. 

"As captain these phases tested him but he came out on top. His communication skills, patience, ability to handle egos and above all his selflessness worked in his favour,” he said. 

(India.com inputs)

By Ankitjit Singh - 25 Dec, 2021

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