Danish Kaneria, a former Pakistan spin bowler has weighed in on the episode, claiming that the BCCI was wrong in its manner to remove Virat Kohli, and mentions that there should have been a smoother form of communication between the two parties.
The decision to have Virat Kohli replaced as India’s white-ball captain continues to have a ripple effect, with former cricketers giving their opinions on one of the biggest developments in Indian cricket in recent years. Perhaps after the Sourav Ganguly-Greg Chappell saga, and the fallout between Anil Kumble and Virat Kohli in 2017, the removal of King Virat Kohli as India’s ODI captain has garnered the most attention.
Danish Kaneria: BCCI Did Not Give Virat Kohli His Due Respect
When Virat Kohli announced that he would be stepping down as India’s T20I captain after the T20 World Cup, he had clearly mentioned that he would focus on leading ODI and Test teams, probably with an eye on the 50-over World Cup scheduled to be held in India in 2023.
But the BCCI seemed to have something else in their minds, and they pulled the plug on Virat Kohli’s near five-year-long tenure as India’s white-ball captain through a tweet.
Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria has weighed in on the episode, claiming the BCCI was wrong in their manner to remove Virat Kohli and mentions that there should have been a smoother form of communication between the two parties. Paying tribute to Virat Kohli’s fine record in ODIs as captain, the former leg-spinner felt Virat Kohli should have been shown more ‘respect’.
“Did the BCCI do the right thing with Kohli? I don’t think so. They did not give him respect. He has gotten India 65 wins as captain, the fourth-highest by any India skipper. The thing is why didn’t you inform someone whose record as captain isn’t bad at all.
“Second most-highest runs as India ODI skipper. Based on his record, he deserved respect. Sure, he hasn’t won an ICC trophy as captain but the way he has led is phenomenal,” Danish Kaneria said on his YouTube channel.
Virat Kohli has been one of India’s most successful white-ball captains. In 95 ODIs, he won 65, giving him a winning percentage of 70-plus. In 45 T20Is, he led India to victory 27 times. He is the fourth in the list of most victories by an Indian captain where MS Dhoni leads the tally with 110 wins, followed by Mohammad Azharuddin(90) and Sourav Ganguly (76).
Under his leadership, India won 15 ODI bilateral series out of 19, which also includes victories in difficult conditions in South Africa, Australia, and West Indies. During his ODI captaincy stint, Virat Kohli scored 5449 runs in 95 matches with 21 hundred.
Rohit Sharma has been Virat Kohli’s longstanding deputy in limited-overs cricket, captaining the team in 10 ODIs and 19 T20Is before he was given full-time charge during the recent three-match home series against New Zealand. He started with a clean sweep. Five IPL titles leading Mumbai Indians in IPL made him an obvious choice as Virat Kohli’s successor.
Danish Kaneria: BCCI Was Harsh To Remove Virat Kohli Without Prior Information
Calling Virat Kohli a ‘superstar’ of world cricket, Danish Kaneria dwelled further on the clarification. Although BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had said that Virat Kohli was kept in the loop about the decision, the former spinner highlighted that the 33-year-old not scoring the way he used to could have been another factor that led to the change in guard.
“The only two superstars going around in world cricket at the moment are Virat Kohli and Babar Azam. You should respect you superstars. The BCCI were harsh in removing Kohli without informing him.
“Sourav Ganguly is such a big name, a former captain. He should have communicated to Virat that we would like for Rohit to captain. Another thing that went against him was that Kohli was not scoring runs as big and fluently as he used to,” Danish Kaneria pointed out.
BCCI president Sourav Ganguly said the selectors felt that multiple leaders in the white-ball format would lead to confusion and that’s why the Chetan Sharma-led committee suggested that it’s better to have one leader. BCCI on Wednesday named Rohit Sharma as the new ODI captain, replacing Virat Kohli, with this tenure to begin from the impending white-ball series against South Africa in January.
Talking about the call, Sourav Ganguly on Thursday said that BCCI and the selectors made the decision together and that he and the chairman of selectors even had a word with Virat Kohli regarding the same. However, Danish Kaneria said that the BCCI was wrong in its manner to remove Virat Kohli as ODI skipper after he himself resigned as T20I skipper.