Former Indian wicket-keeper batter Saba Karim feels that Virat Kohli’s inability to win an ICC trophy as a skipper might have made BCCI sack him from ODI leadership.
BCCI took a step forward in adopting the model of split-captaincy in the Indian cricket team after they named Rohit Sharma as the skipper in white-ball formats and retained Virat Kohli as captain in Tests.
After Virat Kohli had decided to step down as an Indian T20I skipper prior to the T20 World Cup 2021 but had expressed his desire to remain captain in Tests and ODIs, preparing for the ICC Cricket ODI World Cup 2023.
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However, BCCI after announcing the Indian squad for the South Africa Test series made a surprise announcement and unveiled Rohit Sharma as the new full-time white-ball skipper, sacking Virat Kohli from ODI leadership.
Virat Kohli;'s unceremonious removal as ODI captain didn't sit well with many fans and pundits who shared their views on social media and in interviews.
Saba Karim was one such personality, who on his YouTube show Khelneeti said: "It is right to say that Kohli has been sacked. He made the announcement while leaving the T20I captaincy and could have confirmed that he does not want to continue as ODI captain as well. This meant he wanted to remain ODI captain.”
Karim said that Virat Kohli’s inability to win the ICC championship could have influenced BCCI to sack him as an Indian ODI skipper.
"Not being able to win an ICC trophy could have cost Virat Kohli the ODI captaincy. It is right to say that Kohli has been sacked. I think his inability to win an ICC trophy could have cost his ODI captaincy,” he said.
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Saba Karim said that he’s confident that head coach Rahul Dravid or someone from BCCI would’ve had a word with Virat Kohli about their plans of split captaincy.
“I am confident that Rahul Dravid would have had a word with Kohli. I am sure that Dravid or a BCCI functionary would have had a word with Kohli regarding their plans of introducing split captaincy. So, when it comes to taking such a big decision, I believe someone would have surely talked to Kohli,” he said.
(IANS inputs)
