Gautam Gambhir doesn't mince words when it comes to giving his opinion. The former India opener, known for his blunt and no-nonsense approach, has also shed light on Virat Kohli's sudden exit from Test captaincy that had sent the cricket world into a frenzy. The 33-year-old Kohli relinquished the leadership after India's Test series defeat in South Africa.
Kohli's unceremonious exit also put a question mark over his relationship with the BCCI. Back in November of 2021, the flamboyant batter was removed from ODI captaincy, a month after he relinquished his position as the T20I leader. Kohli's farewell was followed by a controversial period in Indian cricket, highlighting an underlying issue between the Indian board and its most successful Test skipper.
Many pundits have weighed in on the issue and Gambhir feels the split between Kohli & the BCCI should have been handled in a better way. He described it as an "internal battle" that could have been resolved behind closed doors.
"I think this could've been sorted behind closed doors as well. It was an internal battle. It was a great TRP for a lot of new channels but that's fine. If you go to the depth of it, the matter can easily be solved. It's not that big of an issue," said Gambhir while speaking on Times Now.
"Honestly, I don't see any controversy which was created. Talking about captaincy, I think Virat should have continued as red-ball captain. But for white-ball captaincy, once he decided to let go of T20I captaincy, he had to let go of ODI captaincy as well. The BCCI and the selectors were right from the white-ball point of view. But it was Virat's personal decision to step down from Test captaincy, which he should have continued," he further added.
{{/usCountry}}"Honestly, I don't see any controversy which was created. Talking about captaincy, I think Virat should have continued as red-ball captain. But for white-ball captaincy, once he decided to let go of T20I captaincy, he had to let go of ODI captaincy as well. The BCCI and the selectors were right from the white-ball point of view. But it was Virat's personal decision to step down from Test captaincy, which he should have continued," he further added.
{{/usCountry}}Kohli's resignation from the Test headship means that his 100th Test against Sri Lanka will be only as a batter, where he would be looking to end his prolonged century drought. He is also a part of the Indian white-ball squad that will take on the West Indies in three ODIs and as many T20Is, beginning February 6.
Kohli on Monday explained his approach as a senior team member after stepping down from leadership across all three formats. He spoke how one can contribute to the team even when he is not its leader.
"Everything has a tenure and time period. You obviously have to be aware of that. People might say 'what this guy has done' but you know when you think of moving forward and achieving more, you feel like you have done your job.
"Now as a batsman may be you have more things to contribute to the team. You can make the team win more. So take pride in that. You don't need to be a captain to be a leader. As simple as that," Kohli said on Digit's 'Firseside Chat with VK'.