Sourav Ganguly Reveals That He Personally Requested Virat Kohli To Continue As T20I Captain

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has revealed that he requested Virat Kohli in a one-on-one to not give up his T20I captaincy for India. Kohli announced the decision to step down from the captaincy role back in September to manage his workload.

That decision ended up costing him his ODI captaincy which he desired to continue with. Rohit Sharma was formally appointed as the full-time white-ball captain as the BCCI did not want to have split captaincy in the limited-overs formats.

“It’s like I said… I personally requested him (Kohli) not to give up T20I captaincy. Obviously, he felt the workload. Which is fine, he has been a great cricketer, he has been very intense with his cricket. He has captained for a long period of time and these things happen.”

“Because I have captained for a long period of time; therefore, I know. Also, they wanted only one white-ball captain. And that’s why this decision. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. But as I said, it’s a good team and it has some fantastic players and I hope they will turn it around,” Ganguly said in an exclusive interview with News18.

Rohit Sharma will find a way to do well and I hope he does – Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly also expressed his desire to see the team turn its fortunes around in the ICC tournaments under the new captain, Rohit Sharma. Having won 4 titles as the Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper, Rohit has what it takes to lead a side in big tournaments, as per Ganguly.

“Of course. That’s why the selectors have backed him. He will find a way to do well and I hope he does. His record for IPL(Mumbai Indians) is phenomenal… winning five titles. He captained India in Asia Cup a couple of years ago which India won as well, and India won without Kohli. To win a title without him spoke volumes of that team’s strength. So he has had success in big tournaments. He has a good team. So hopefully they can all turn it around,” Ganguly added.

India will be touring South Africa shortly for a 3-match Test series followed by a 3-match ODI series.

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