Arun Dhumal, BCCI treasurer claimed that rumours going around that Virat Kohli’s captaincy has been complained about by senior Test cricketers on England tour would only do damage to Indian cricket.
The BCCI is “peeved” over obscure and unsubstantiated media reports doing the rounds lately that certain Team India cricketers complained to BCCI about Virat Kohli. Sections of the media reported this week about Indian cricketers calling BCCI secretary Jay Shah to complain about Virat Kohli and his captaincy, and hence the BCCI decided to step in.
Arun Dhumal: Media Must Stop Writing This Rubbish, No Indian Cricketer Made Any Complaint Written Or Verbal To BCCI
“The media must stop writing this rubbish. Let me say this on the record that no Indian cricketer has made any complaint to the BCCI – written or verbal. The BCCI can’t keep answering every false report that keeps appearing. The other day, we saw some reports saying there will be changes in India’s World Cup squad. Who said that?” BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal told TOI on Wednesday.
On September 13, when it was reported that Virat Kohli would step down as India’s white-ball captain, Arun Dhumal had denied the same to the media and said that BCCI had not discussed the matter of split-captaincy. Arun Dhumal was technically right because it wasn’t the BCCI that was discussing the removal of Virat Kohli as white-ball captain.
“Virat himself will make the announcement. He is of the view that he needs to concentrate on his batting and go back to becoming what he’s always been – the best batsman in the world. The decision to quit (white-ball) captaincy is his alone, ” said Arun Dhumal.
Virat Kohli himself made the decision to relinquish T20I captaincy after World Cup’s conclusion. Arun Dhumal’s statement to the media then was also absolutely in line with the said report because, as the treasurer maintained, it wasn’t BCCI’s but Virat Kohli’s decision to step down.
“The media asked me if the BCCI had taken a decision and I said no because that was true – the BCCI had not taken any decision or even discussed it. Eventually, Virat took his own decision and conveyed it to the BCCI and that was his call. Today, the same media is saying players complained to the BCCI. So, on behalf of the board, I can tell you, there have been no complaints. Is there any confusion?” Arun Dhumal further said.
There shouldn’t be any more confusion because even the office of the BCCI secretary is not aware of any such complaint. The BCCI says it finds it extremely intriguing that hours after Virat Kohli resigned as T20 captain, a section of the media seems to know almost everything about the Indian team. But 24 hours before he resigned, nobody had a clue that there were complaints against him.
Virat Kohli Decided To Quit As T20I Captain After World Cup And RCB Skipper After IPL 2021 Concludes
Virat Kohli later spoke with several individuals who hold positions of responsibility in Indian cricket after reports emerged that a few cricketers were unhappy with his captaincy. Every single one of those individuals has denied that players have filed any complaint whatsoever against the current Indian captain, not with the secretary’s office or with any other office within the Board.
“This kind of reporting harms Indian cricket more than anything else. We can understand if senior journalists – who have followed the game for a very long time and tracked it so devotedly – believe the Indian team should do this or do that. That’s an opinion and we respect that. It’s an observation and that’s their job. I myself enjoy reading good reports. But to concoct tales and say this person said this or that person said that, without substantiating it, is not done,” Dhumal further said.
With the BCCI treasurer deciding to put the record straight, it is now clear that the rumours were without any substance. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli has gone on to announce that he will step down from the captaincy of Royal Challengers Bangalore as well at the completion of IPL 2021. The Indian skipper will be leading the T20 side for the final time at the T20 World Cup 2021 in UAE and Oman next month.