I Didn't Remove Virat From Captaincy, Says Sourav Ganguly As He Finally Reveals Reason Behind Virat Kohli's Decision To Step Down

Former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has reiterated that he did not sack Virat Kohli as the captain of the Indian team in the white-ball formats. The star batsman stepped down as the T20I captain after the conclusion of the 2021 T20 World Cup before being removed as the ODI captain in December 2021.

And after the loss in the Test series against South Africa, Virat Kohli stunned one and all by deciding to step down as the Test captain as well. Even Rohit Sharma was stunned with the decision and had famously written ‘shocked’ on his social media accounts while reacting to it. During this phase, the BCCI and the Virat Kohli publicly contradicted each other on a number of occasions.

After replacing Virat Kohli with Rohit Sharma as the ODI captain, the-then BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly said that he had asked the former India captain not to step down as T20I captain. However, Virat Kohli did not take long to contradict the BCCI boss.

Sourav Ganguly on Virat Kohli’s captaincy saga:

Following Virat Kohli’s resignation as the Test captain, Sourav Ganguly had faced severe criticism from several quarters. Many asserted that he was the main man behind Virat Kohli’s sacking although the former India captain has always denied it.

And in a recent show hosted by himself, Sourav Ganguly once again stated that he had no role in the sacking of the batting superstar as the captain. He also revealed the reason behind Virat Kohli’s decision to step down as the white-ball captain.

“I didn’t remove Virat from captaincy. I have told this a lot of times. He was not interested to lead in T20Is. So, after he made that decision, I told him, if you’re not interested to lead in T20Is, it’s better if you step down from entire white-ball cricket. Let there be a white-ball captain and a red-ball captain,” Sourav Ganguly said on the reality show Dadagiri Unlimited Season 10.

Virat Kohli enjoyed a highly successful stint as Test captain. Under him, Team India won a record 40 Tests that included a series win in Australia. India also won Tests in South Africa and England under his captaincy. In 2021, he also led the team to the final of the inaugural World Test Championship.