The controversy involving former Indian captain Virat Kohli and BCCI President Sourav Ganguly just refuses to die down, as a report on Thursday (January 20) claimed that Ganguly wanted to issue a show cause notice to the star cricketer for his comments during a press conference ahead of departure for the tour of South Africa in December.
Kohli had refuted Ganguly's claims that he had requested him to not quit T20I captaincy, and despite that he announced his decision before the start of the T20 World Cup 2021 in UAE.
Kohli, after he was unceremoniously removed as ODI captain, said no one asked him to reconsider his decision to quit as India's T20I captain, nor was there any communication from the board.
Kohli's outburst showed the President and the board in a poor light and it is reported by India Ahead News that Ganguly was convinced about sending a show cause notice to the cricketer ahead of the tour, before deciding against the unprecedented move after discussing the matter with other board officials.
“And the board president was all for issuing a show cause notice to Kohli," a source close to the development was quoted as saying by India Ahead News.
Kohli eventually stepped down as Test captain as well after India lost the series 2-1 to South Africa despite taking a 1-0 lead at Centurion. He had missed the second Test due to a back spasm, but returned to lead the team in the series-decider.
His decision surprised almost everyone in the cricketing world as his passion for Test cricket is well known and he is one of the most successful captains of all-time with 40 wins from 68 matches.
He had even expressed his eagerness to continue leading the national side in ODIs and Tests, while announcing his decision to quit captaincy in T20Is, but it seems the entire episode with the board after he was sacked as ODI captain had played a role in him quitting the Test captaincy as well.
In a tweet, Ganguly had mentioned the decision to quit Test captaincy was a personal one, taken by Kohli himself and he as well as the board respects it. He also lauded the Kohli for his very successful stint and backed him to play a key role as a senior member of the Indian team in the future.
(With IANS inputs)
