Salman Butt said with a successful Test series in England and a crucial T20 World Cup looming, this is not the time to rake up the captaincy debate.
Following reports that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was unhappy with some of Virat Kohli’s decisions during the World Test Championship (WTC) final, former Pakistan captain Salman Butt said that the Indian skipper is being made a target of a “dirty game”.
Salman Butt Feels It’s Not The Proper Time To Discuss Captaincy
Salman Butt was responding to a recent news report that also claimed that Virat Kohli could be asked to make way for Rohit Sharma as captain if India fails to perform well in the ICC World T20 competition. The former Pakistan captain further said with a successful Test series in England and a crucial T20 World Cup looming, this is not the time to rake up the captaincy debate.
“Do you see the timing of this news? I don’t have a problem with what the board thinks, it’s about their own evaluation of who can take their cricket forward… but is this the time to discuss these things? Now there’s talk of Virat Kohli’s captaincy being on the danger line,” Butt said in a video on his YouTube channel.
“He’s (Virat) recently played a series in England, led his team really well, he was being criticized for his team selections but he’s constantly backing his team and in turn, the team is responding to him and playing good cricket… the team is at the top in every format and the World Cup is right up front, so such news surfacing in the media is nothing but a dirty game.”
One of India’s most successful captains, Virat Kohli led India in 95 ODIs, and with 65 wins and 27 defeats. In 45 T20Is so far where he has been the captain, India has won 27 times while losing 14 times.
Salman Butt: Virat Kohli Has Done A Lot Of Good As Captain In Indian Cricket
Asked about comparing the white-ball trophies won by Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, Salman Butt said the latter is a very good captain but the former, too, has a decent win percentage across formats.
“I have said this before, Rohit Sharma is a very good captain, very successful, but this is not the time to talk about these things… Trophies matter, I agree but see the percentage of the games he has won and how successful he has been around the world. I think this is not the time and the guy has done a lot of good to Indian cricket. This news resurfacing is nothing but bad intent which shouldn’t happen.”
Rohit Sharma has also inspired the team in Virat Kohli’s absence to memorable triumphs in Asia Cup 2018 and Nidahas Trophy 2018, besides leading Mumbai Indians to an unprecedented five IPL titles. Rohit Sharma, 34, has led India 10 times in ODIs and led them to victories on eight occasions. In T20Is, he has captained them 19 times of which they have won 15 and lost four.
Rohit Sharma has proven his mettle as the most successful captain in the Indian Premier League. The hitman Rohit Sharma has led the Mumbai Indians (MI) to victory in the seasons 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020.
One of the biggest criticisms of Virat Kohli’s captaincy is his failure to land a major ICC trophy since taking over the charge of the team. Recently, in June, India lost in the final of the World Test Championship against New Zealand in Southampton. India’s all-format captain Virat Kohli will soon quit ODI and T20 captaincy.
Virat Kohli will quit as India’s white-ball captain right after the T20 World Cup and IPL’s most successful skipper Rohit Sharma will take over the mantle. However, on Monday, BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal rubbished the reports.