Following the claims made by former India skipper Virat Kohli in his pre-departure conference to South Africa in December 2021, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly reportedly wanted to issue a show cause notice to the then India Test captain before the beginning of the ongoing tour to the rainbow nation.
Notably, ahead of the Indian team’s departure to South Africa, Kohli had addressed the press-conference and had claimed that no one from the BCCI or the selection committee had asked him to reconsider his decision to give up T20I captaincy. Kohli’s claim had contradicted Ganguly, who had earlier said that he had personally requested the run-machine to not leave the leadership role in the shortest format of the game.
Meanwhile, Kohli, 33 had also claimed that he was informed by the selectors that he won’t be the ODI captain anymore just one and a half hours before the Test squad for the South Africa series was announced and there was no prior communication on the same from Indian board.
Notably, Kohli’s claim didn’t go down well with the Indian board and now, reports suggest that Ganguly had prepared a draft letter and wanted to send a show cause notice to the former captian.
However, as Ganguly discussed the matter with the board members, they didn’t find it appropriate to issue a notice to the Test captain just before the start of a Test series.
“And the board president was all for issuing a show cause notice to Kohli,” a source close to the development was quoted as saying by India Ahead News.
Recemtly after losing the South Africa series, Kohli had also decided to leave the Test captaincy.
Reacting to his decision, Ganguly lauded Kohli for taking the team to new heights in all formats of the game and termed the decision as a personal one which even the board respects.
“Under Virat’s leadership Indian cricket has made rapid strides in all formats of the game… his decision is a personal one and bcci respects it immensely… he will be an important member to take this team to newer heights in the future. A great player. well done… @BCCI @imVkohli,” Ganguly said in his tweet.
Moreover, Kohli had also reportedly turned down an offer by the BBCI to play a farewwell match after he had stunned the cricketing world by announcing his departure as the Test captain of the Indian team.
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).