'It will only turn into a mud slinging match between the two': Twitter blames Shastri for reigniting Kohli-Ganguly saga

Shastri opined that the situation could have been handled better “with good communication”, before saying that it is time for BCCI President Sourav Ganguly "to come and give his side of the story."

It has been almost two weeks since Virat Kohli's fiery and controversial press conference triggered a storm in Indian cricket, exposing an underlying tension between the former white-ball skipper and the BCCI. While social media witnessed fans being dived in 'Kohli vs Ganguly debate', most experts and former cricketers urged the board to clear the air. Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri too joined the bandwagon on Thursday giving his opinion on the topic but his words has left Twitter infuriated.

Sourav Ganguly; Ravi Shastri; Virat Kohli

Speaking at The Indian Express eAdda, Shastri opined that the situation could have been handled better “with good communication”, before adding that, with Kohli presenting his side of the story, it is time for BCCI President Sourav Ganguly "to come and give his side of the story, or give some clarification on whatever has happened."

Shastri didn't point fingers at anyone, but admitted, "You want to know the truth and that can only come with dialogue and communication."

However, Shastri's words did not go down well with Indian cricket fans on Twitter, who blamed his poor timing with the words before alleging that the former head coach is looking to reignite the war of words between Ganguly and Kohli, which they feel had subsided over the course of last few days.

Here is how Twitter reacted...

After Ganguly had revealed in an interview that he had requested Kohli to not up the T20I captaincy, the latter had contradicted the words denying having any communication regarding the same before revealing that he was informed about his ODI captaincy removal an hour and a half before the team selection for the South Africa Test series.

When asked a day after the controversial presser, Ganguly refused to make any statement and further revealed that there would not be any press conference clarifying Kohli's words before saying that the BCCI will take care of it.

Shastri ended by saying that it would not be appropriate to form an opinion on the topic without knowning the sequence of events that unfolded.

We are not privy to it. What the actual communication was, what was asked, what was not asked, what context was it asked in, and what was the answer given. These are the things that we do not know,” Shastri said.

“So to jump into the subject of what is happening there, I think, would not be right, till you know what has transpired between both parties, what was the actual conversation, what was the subject, where did it start from and what was the end. Once you get to know all that, then you can join the dots and see what is the right thing to do,” he said.