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'Virat's phone is switched off': Kohli's childhood coach 'surprised' at Ganguly's statement; 'No transparency at all'
The Indian batter's childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma was surprised with the sudden change in ODI captaincy.
Rohit Sharma was named India's new ODI captain earlier this week, succeeding Virat Kohli in the role. BCCI's announcement on the captaincy switch in fifty-over format came less than a month after Rohit was also named the T20I captain. Kohli had confirmed ahead of the 2021 T20 World Cup that he would be leaving the leadership role in the shortest format, citing workload management.
BCCI's announcement on the ODI captaincy switch came as a surprise to many, as Kohli had specifically mentioned in his statement that he was looking forward to leading the team in ODIs and Tests. The Indian batter's childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma was equally surprised with the sudden announcement, insisting that the selectors should've been clearer with Kohli on their stand when he stepped down from T20I captaincy.
“I haven't talked to him (Virat Kohli) yet. His phone is switched off for some reason. But as far as my opinion is concerned, he had specifically stepped down from T20 captaincy and the selectors should've straightaway asked him to step down from both the white-ball formats, or not step down at all,” Sharma said, while speaking on the Khelneeti podcast.
Sharma further expressed surprise at Sourav Ganguly's recent comments on the change in captaincy. The BCCI President had said that the board had requested Kohli “not to step down as T20I skipper.”
“I read Sourav Ganguly's comments recently that they had asked Kohli to not step down from T20I captaincy (before the World Cup). I don't recall anything like that. This statement came as a surprise to me. There are different statements circulating around,” Sharma said.
Sharma further called for the selection committee to have more transparency in the decision-making process. “The selection committee doesn't provide a reason behind the decision. We don't know what the management or the BCCI or the selectors want. There's no clarification, no transparency at all.
“It's a pity how this has happened. He has been such a successful one-day captain,” said the 56-year-old.
