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Team India captain Virat Kohli on Thursday stunned the cricketing fraternity by announcing his decision to step down as T20I captain after the World Cup in October-November. While the BCCI had earlier defiantly denied reports of a possible change in guard, Kohli’s statement cleared the air.
Informing of his decision to quit T20 leadership through a social media post, Kohli explained that he wanted some space to focus on captaining the team in Tests and ODIs. Kohli also revealed that he had spoken to coach Ravi Shastri, vice-captain Rohit Sharma as well as top BCCI officials before arriving at a conclusion.
Kohli’s decision basically means that he will be leading India in a T20 World Cup for the first and last time! MS Dhoni was India’s captain during the previous edition in 2016.
More to Kohli’s departure than meets the eye?
Although Kohli has clarified that his decision to step down from T20 leadership is purely to focus on ODIs and Tests, shocking controversy theories have been doing the rounds following Kohli’s announcement. We look at the major ones.
#1 Kohli wanted Rohit removed as ODI vice-captain
One of the biggest claims surrounding Kohli’s exit is that he wanted Rohit Sharma removed as white-ball vice-captain, which did not go down well with the BCCI.
Kohli allegedly went to the selection committee and proposed that Rohit be removed as ODI vice-captain since he is 34. He wanted KL Rahul to be his ODI deputy with Rishabh Pant, the T20 vice-captain.
"This didn't go down well with the Board which believes that Kohli doesn't want an actual successor," a Board source was quoted as telling PTI.
“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,” a BCCI insider was quoted as saying by the news agency.
BCCI concluded that Kohli’s approach to them over Rohit was an effort to safeguard his 50-over captaincy till the 2023 World Cup, the report further claimed.
#2 Virat Kohli’s style of functioning borders on autocracy
Another theory floating around is that Kohli no longer enjoys complete support in the Indian dressing room. His style of functioning has been described as one that borders on autocracy. According to reports, Kohli’s decision to play two spinners in the World Test Championship final at Southampton on a fast bowlers’ paradise did not go down well with many.
Also, although India were 2-1 up in the Test series against England, Kohli’s decision to not play off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in any of the four Tests shocked world cricket as a whole. Not only that, the paternity break that Kohli took after the Adelaide Test in which India were rolled over for 36 is said to have changed a lot of things.
Reportedly, players were happier when they came from behind to beat Australia. By the time, Kohli came back as leader, the dynamics of the side were no longer the same.
"The problem with Virat is his communication. In case of MS Dhoni, his room would be open 24x7 and players could just walk in, play the PS4, have a meal and let their hair down and if required talk cricket. Beyond the ground, Kohli is literally incommunicado," a former India player reportedly told PTI.
#3 Kohli and selectors differed over Shikhar Dhawan
It is being said that Kohli had a tough time convincing the selectors to pick Shikhar Dhawan in the ODI squad for the India vs England series in February-March this year
According to a report in Cricbuzz, the selectors were keen to pick a younger opener who had performed in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. However, Kohli wanted Dhawan in the team and eventually had his way. The report claimed that a heated debate took place during the meeting to pick the team for the England series.
Click here for find out who has taken highest wickets in T20 World Cup 2021 so far.
Incidentally, Dhawan was part of the T20 series against England but Kohli openly commented that KL Rahul was the first-choice opener in T20Is and Dhawan was the backup opener. Later, Dhawan was named captain for the limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka with Kohli leading the side in England. Despite putting up a reasonable performance, Dhawan was axed from India’s T20 World Cup squad.
#4 Virat Kohli left youngsters in a lurch
One criticism being made of Kohli’s leadership is that, unlike MS Dhoni before him, he did not back and motivate the youngsters enough during their struggling phase. His communication with players over their roles in the team is said to be rather vague.
"Kuldeep Yadav, after a five-wicket haul in Australia, went downhill. Ditto for Rishabh Pant when he wasn't in form. Umesh Yadav, a senior bowler, who is a workhorse on Indian pitches, never gets an answer on why he is not considered till someone gets injured? He speaks about communication at media conferences but this is the truth that he has hardly hand-held any player when they needed their captain the most," an unnamed Indian cricketer was quoted as saying by PTI.
Surely, we have not heard the last of this yet. Expect more skeletons to tumble out of the closet in the coming days.
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