Virat Kohli's sacking as India’s ODI skipper has been in the news for the last couple of weeks. There are a lot of speculations around the captaincy removal, with some media reports suggesting that newly-appointed head coach Rahul Dravid might also have a role to play in it.
However, Dravid on Saturday (December 25) refused to disclose details of any internal conversation he might have had with the selectors on Kohli's white-ball captaincy, saying it is not for public consumption.
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"To be honest that's the role of the selectors and I am not going to get into conversations that I might or might not have had," Dravid said in a virtual media conference on the eve of the first Test against South Africa in Centurion.
"It's not the place and the time to be doing that and discussing that. And what internal conversations I have had is certainly not going to come out in the media and I am not going to start telling people what conversations I have had," he added.
Kohli had decided to relinquish the T20I captaincy following the T20 World Cup and later he was replaced by Rohit Sharma in the 50-over format too.
Before departing for the South Africa tour, the Indian Test captain had addressed the media and said he was never asked "not to quit T20 captaincy", contrary to what BCCI president Sourav Ganguly told several media outlets after Kohli’s removal as ODI captain earlier this month.
Virat had also spoken about the lack of communication from the board before sacking him from the ODI captaincy.
On a different note, Dravid praised Kohli for his passion for Test cricket and hoped that he would do well in the series against South Africa, starting December 26 in Centurion.
"Virat has played a huge role in that obviously as a payer and a leader. He has been fantastic. He is one of those players who loves Test cricket and really wants to compete. Hopefully, he has great series that benefits the team as well," the coach said.
(With PTI inputs)
