Recently a storm occurred in Indian cricket as Virat Kohli announced that he will be stepping down from India’s T20I captaincy after the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2021 to be played in UAE and Oman from October 17.
This was huge news given that BCCI had previously clarified that Kohli will remain India captain in all three formats for foreseeable future.
But it seems that there is more to the Virat Kohli announcement as a report in PTI suggested that he was losing the support of his teammates, the support staff, and even the BCCI and might even not remain the ODI captain after his decision to step down from T20I captaincy.
While Kohli has maintained that he would remain captain in the other two formats, one can't say with absolute certainty that he will be India's 50-over skipper going into the 2023 World Cup at home.
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"Virat knew that he would have been removed from white ball captaincy. If the team doesn't do well at the UAE World T20, he was gone for good as far as white-ball leadership is concerned. He just reduced a bit of pressure on himself as it would seem that he is there on his own terms. It might not happen for 50 overs if the performance in T20 hits a downward spiral," a BCCI insider, in the know of things, told PTI.
The report also suggested that Virat Kohli’s captaincy style and functioning, according to those who have watched him closely, borders on autocracy with very little room for inclusiveness.
The report also mentioned that while MS Dhoni was open to communication all the times as players used to walk into his room to chill, order food, and play video games, Kohli is literally incommunicado off the field, said one former India player, who has seen Kohli's early days of captaincy, to PTI during an informal chat.
However one of the most surprising things to come out of this PTI report has been that Kohli went to the selection committee with a proposal that Rohit is removed from the ODI vice-captaincy as he is 34. The Delhiite wanted Rishabh Pant to take over as vice-captain In T20Is and suggested KL Rahul be handed the ODI vice-captaincy.
"This didn't go down well with the Board which believes that Kohli doesn't want an actual successor,” a board official said.
In the BCCI corridors, officials have figured that Kohli wants to protect his 50-over captaincy till the 2023 World Cup. However, it might not happen now as Kohli has alienated more people than ever including the players, the support staff, the national selectors, and now the BCCI head honchos.
(PTI inputs)
