After the T20 World Cup in November last year, Virat Kohli had stepped down as T20I captain while he was sacked as ODI skipper ahead of the South Africa tour in December 2021.
Those developments had left people wondering that the Indian team will now choose the path of split captaincy, with Kohli continuing to lead the Test side.
However, Virat put all the speculations to rest as he resigned from the Test captaincy following the 2-1 series loss to South Africa in January this year.
With no burden of leadership on his shoulder, Virat Kohli was expected to return to his dominating best with the bat but the right-hander is enduring an extended lean patch and questions are now being raised over his place in the Indian team.
Meanwhile, BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal has rubbished the theory that the board messed up the captaincy saga, which had an adverse impact on Kohli’s batting.
Dhumal also clarified that the veteran batter’s selection is entirely up to the selectors.
"See… as far as Virat is concerned, he is not a simple player. He is a great and his contribution to Indian cricket is unparalleled. It is outstanding. So, such conversations (board is trying to sideline Kohli) keep taking place in the media and it does not affect us. We want that he returns to form soon, and as far as team selection is concerned, we leave it to selectors. It is their call as to how they want to go about it," Dhumal told veteran sports journalist Vimal Kumar on his YouTube channel.
Commenting on the captaincy saga, Dhumal said that the decision to step down was entirely Virat's.
"As far as the issue of captaincy is concerned, it was his call. He decided that mujhe ab nahi karni hai captaincy (that I don’t want to captain). It is possible that someone feels it’s best to do it after the World Cup but that is their point of view. But he wanted to quit, and it was purely his decision. And we respected it. See he has contributed so much to Indian cricket that everyone in the cricket board respects him. We would like to see Virat in action on the ground," he added.
Virat Kohli has been rested from the Indian team’s ongoing white-ball tour of West Indies. He is likely to return to action in the Asia Cup 2022, slated to be held in the UAE from August 27 to September 11.
