How Virat Kohli's infamous fallout with Sourav Ganguly changed him forever
As Virat Kohli retires from Tests, here's looking back at his ugly fallout with the former India skipper and the then-BCCI President, Sourav Ganguly.
Virat Kohli, India's maverick man, who made his debut in Tests in 2011 against West Indies, called time on his career in the longest format of the game on Monday. The 36-year-old shocked the world as he decided to announce his retirement from Tests right before the marquee five-match series against England, beginning June 20, 2025. Kohli has been enduring underwhelming returns with the bat in Tests for the last five years, with just four centuries. However, no one expected the batter to step away from Tests with such a crucial series looming.
Kohli brings down the curtains on a legendary Test career. From 123 Tests and the 210 innings he batted in, Kohli scored 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85, with a highest score was 254 not out. Who would have thought that a class-apart batter like Kohli would finish without breaching the 10,000-run mark in the format that he cherished the most and often described as "the toughest"
India will now be without both senior batters Kohli and Rohit Sharma for the England series. Rohit, who recently turned 38, announced his retirement from Tests last week.
Kohli ruled the longest format of the game from 2015-19, scoring runs for fun. He took over the captaincy mantle from MS Dhoni after his retirement midway through the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2014-15. After that, Kohli had a prolonged golden run in Tests as he smashed every team that stepped in his way. Be it Australia, England, South Africa, West Indies or Bangladesh, Kohli made a mockery of their bowlers.
From 2016-2019, Kohli registered seven double centuries in Tests. He smashed 200 against the West Indies, 204 against Bangladesh, 211 against New Zealand, 213 against Sri Lanka, 235 against England, 243 against Sri Lanka, and 254 against South Africa as he showed the world his pedigree of batting long and draining the opposition out.
However, Kohli's story took a sharp turn after the 2021 Tests. He suffered a massive dip in form, scoring just four centuries in the last four years. There can be several reasons behind it. Many talk about hand-eye coordination and Kohli's weakness regarding the deliveries bowled in the fourth-stump channel. However, not many speak about the mental challenge Kohli took on after his fallout with the then-BCCI President Sourav Ganguly.
It all started with Kohli announcing his decision to step down as the T20I captain. The decision seemed harmless at first. However, just days after this announcement, different versions emerged, as the first signs of cracks between Kohli and Ganguly came to the fore.
Kohli announced his decision to step down from T20I captaincy after the end of the 2021 T20 World Cup, citing workload management. In a statement posted on social media, Kohli made it clear that he wanted to continue as ODI and Test captain. However, just months later, Kohli was removed as the ODI captain and Rohit Sharma was named the new skipper. There was no press conference, nor a detailed explanation, as the BCCI just added one line in a press release stating that Rohit was India's new white-ball captain.
Ganguly gave a series of interviews to several publications, saying he had asked the batter not to leave the leadership role in T20s. He said that since Kohli made up his mind, the BCCI opted to have one person as the skipper in both the white-ball formats to ensure continuity.
"It's a call that the BCCI and the selectors took together. Actually, the BCCI had requested Virat not to step down as the T20I skipper, but obviously, he did not agree. And the selectors then did not feel it right to have two different captains for two white-ball formats," Ganguly told ANI.
"So it was decided that Virat will continue as Test captain and Rohit will take over as the white-ball captain. I, as President, personally spoke to Virat Kohli," he stated further.
But right before the three-match series against South Africa, Kohli addressed the media in a pre-departure press conference, where he made some bombshell claims. Kohli openly threw shade at Ganguly as he provided a different stance, saying he was never asked not to leave the T20I captaincy. Kohli also opened up on how he was told that he would no longer be the ODI captain just 1.5 hours before the squad for the South Africa Tests was announced.
Speaking to reporters via Zoom, Kohli said, "I was contacted one-and-a-half hours before the selection meeting on December 8 for the Test series. There was no prior communication to me at all from when I announced the T20I captaincy decision until December 8, when, as I said, I got a call one-and-a-half hours before the selection meeting."
"When I decided to leave the T20I captaincy and communicated that, and I approached the BCCI first about my decision, that this is my point of view, and these are the reasons due to which I am doing this, it was received in a very nice way. I wasn't told you don't leave the T20 captaincy. Instead, it was received well; I was told it's a very progressive step and in the right direction," he added.
With this explosive Kohli press conference on December 15, 2021, the spat between the batter and Ganguly became public, with fans on social media quickly taking sides. There were several reports which stated how the BCCI officials were not pleased with Kohli for airing internal matters publicly.
Some reports also stated that Ganguly wanted to issue a show-cause notice to Kohli for the same. However, speaking to news agency ANI, the former India skipper denied all these claims.
Just a month after his fallout, India lost the Test series against South Africa under Kohli's leadership. A day after the eventual series defeat, Kohli posted a short and crisp statement on X (formerly Twitter), stating that he would no longer be leading India in Tests as well. In a matter of five months, Kohli was no longer the captain of India.
Kohli-Ganguly cold vibes extend to IPL
Things between Ganguly and Kohli didn't end there. The cold vibes between the two extended in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 when Ganguly was the Director of Cricket for Delhi Capitals while Kohli represented the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
When Delhi Capitals and RCB played against each other, Ganguly and Kohli did not shake hands after the fixture concluded. Several video clips showed Kohli bypassing Ganguly, and according to reports, both also unfollowed each other on Instagram.
It also needs to be said that Virat Kohli was never the same after this ugly fallout with Sourav Ganguly. The right-hander couldn't buy a run across formats for most of 2022, and it took him a break from cricket to rediscover his mojo. In the Asia Cup, he scored his 71st international ton as he smashed his maiden T20I century against Afghanistan. Kohli's dismal returns in Tests in 2022 is the main reason behind his average falling below 50.
However, Kohli got a lot more mellow ever since the captaincy was taken from him. He engaged less and less in verbal fights. The sight of him giving a hard time to opponents on the field were hard to come by.
Considering the entire sequence of events, the fallout between Kohli and Ganguly appears to be rooted in mishandled communication over captaincy decisions. The duo has remained diplomatic in public after the major fallout; however, no one can deny that they did not see eye-to-eye, and it also marked a low point in BCCI’s handling of a major transition.
