Following his sudden decision to step down as the captain of India in Test cricket, Kohli has reportedly turned down an offer by the Board of Control for Cricket (BBCI) to play a farewwell match.
On Saturday, Kohli had stunned the cricketing world by announcing his departure as the Test captain of the Indian team.
Now as per a report in Hindustan Times (HT), the Indian board had offered a farewell match to Kohli and asked him to lead the Indian side for one last time in his 100th Test match. However, it has been learnt that Kohli refused to accept the offer and said: “One match makes no difference. That’s not how I am”.
After Kohli’s decision, the BCCI is most likley to appoint white-ball skipper Rohit Sharma as the new Test captain however, it is yet to make an official announcement.
So far, run-machine Kohli is the most successful Test captain India has ever had. Under Kohli, India played a total of 68 Test matches and won 40, drew 11, and lost in 17 matches.
Notably, Kohli had also led the Indian side to its maiden Test series win in Australia in 2018 beside winning a Test series in Sri Lanka and West Indies.
In 2021, Kohli guided the Indian side to secure an unassailable 2-1 lead in the four-match Test series against England beside leading his side to the final of the World Test Championship (WTC).
Notably, Kohli had also stepped down from T20I captaincy after India’s poor show in the 2021 World Cup in the UAE and in December 2021, the BCCI had removed him from the ODI captaincy. The BCCI had named Rohit as the new white-ball skipper.
Later in an interview, BCCI chief Ganguly had claimed that he had requested Kohli not to step down from T20I captaincy however, his statement was contradicted by Kohli, who had said that he was informed about the ODI captaincy only one and a half hour before the team selection meeting.
Notably, Kohli’s revelation of the development in a press-conference before Team India’s departure for South Africa had triggered a storm in Indian cricket.
The controversy is seen as one of the main reason behind Kohli’s sudden announcement of stepping down from captaincy and many reports also suggested that all was not well between Kohli and the BCCI chief.
Kohli, 33, was first appointed as India captian at the Adelaide Test in 2014 against hosts Australia. He was appointed as the full-time captian after MS Dhoni had announced his retirement from the format ahead of the fourth Test at Sydney in January 2015.
Significantly, India won a series in every country they travelled under Kohli barring South Africa and New Zealand.