Credit: Twitter
After losing against New Zealand in 2021, India lost their second straight WTC Final this year against Australia at The Oval, and fans and experts questioned Rohit Sharma's captaincy. Days after the WTC Final 2023 loss, former BCCI President Sourav Ganguly makes a shocking revelation over veteran batter Virat Kohli's 'unexpected' resignation as the Indian captain in Test cricket.
After being stripped of the white-ball captaincy, Virat Kohli made a sudden decision to resign from the Test captaincy after India's tour of South Africa in January 2022. Reportedly, a feud with then-BCCI president Ganguly resulted in Kohli's resignation from red-ball cricket captaincy.
Recently in an interview with Aaj Tak, Ganguly opened up on Kohli's sudden resignation from Test captaincy and said, " BCCI was not prepared for Virat Kohli leaving the Test captaincy. It was unexpected for us also after the South Africa tour. Only Virat Kohli can reveal why he left the captaincy. There is no point talking about this now because Virat Kohli left the Test captaincy. Selectors had to appoint an India captain. And Rohit was the best option at that time."
Ganguly backed Rohit Sharma as Kohli's successor in Tests and stated, " At that time, Rohit Sharma looked the best alternate. He’s won five IPLs. Whenever he had been handed the opportunity to captain, like in the Asia Cup, he’s won. He was the best option. He’s led the team in the WTC Final as well this time around, even though we lost."
Team India last won an ICC trophy in 2013 as MS Dhoni led Team India to the Champions Trophy victory against England in the final. Ganguly compared Rohit with Dhoni as both the players have won five IPL titles as captains and the Delhi Capitals mentor believed that winning the IPL is more difficult than winning a World Cup. Ganguly said, " I have full faith in Rohit. He and MS Dhoni have won 5 IPL titles. Winning the IPL isn’t easy because it’s a tough tournament. Winning the IPL is more difficult than winning a World Cup as there are 14 matches after which you take part in the playoffs. In the World Cup, it takes only 4-5 matches for a place in the semis. In the IPL, it takes 17 matches for you to become champions."
Ganguly concluded by advising the current Indian skipper to lead the Men in Blue 'without any fear' as he said, " I want him (Rohit) to lead the team without any fear. We have a World Cup six months later. A team that has Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bumrah – we don’t know if he’ll be fit by then – Shami, Siraj…that team will win some time. In my opinion….I have played with Rahul (Dravid) and have a lot of respect for him…he can take this team forward along with Rohit only."
