Is BCCI Following Virat Kohli Orders? CoA Chief Vinod Rai Speaks

It has been a brilliant last few years for Virat Kohli and the Indian National Cricket Team. They have become strongest side in the world across the formats with a good winning percentage. During the course, the skipper Virat Kohli achieved many records and accolades from the former greats.

However, one of the major drawbacks during the tenure of Virat Kohli as the captain is the inability to win a major ICC trophy. Despite, India playing Champions Trophy and World Cup under Kohli, he failed to make things fall in place thus helping the critics to raise their voice against him.

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Amidst all the ruckus, a few former cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar and many more fans claimed that the Indian skipper Virat Kohli is calling shots in BCCI, which is being followed by CoA as well.

There are a lot of closed-door discussions – Vinod Rai

Speaking of the same, the CoA chief Vinod Rai quoted that the news which is being circulated regarding the issue is incorrect. Further, he explained that there is nothing to do with the rift between Virat Kohli and Anil Kumble behind the decision to appoint Ravi Shastri as the head coach of the team.

“It’s good to have checks and balances. When a team performs badly, I don’t think it’s only the captain’s (responsibility). There are a lot of closed door discussions… To say that nobody held Virat Kohli responsible for the (World Cup) loss would be incorrect.”

“We took charge on January 30, 2017. In April, when we happened to be in Hyderabad for the first match of the IPL season, Kumble’s contract was produced before me. Kumble’s contract, or rather selection as a coach, was for a two-year period. The person selected then did not find favour… So Kumble was selected, but he was given only a one-year tenure. Kumble’s contract did not have a clause for extension.”

You can call me ignoramus –

Vinod Rai revealed that there was no clause to extend the period of Anil Kumble, which didn’t allow him to apply again. But it was not the same with Ravi Shastri, as there were many changes took place. Further, Vinod Rai added that Ravi Shastri did a tremendous job as the coach during his tenure.

“The issue that came up was not so much about what happened in the dressing room… It was if we have to extend Kumble’s tenure, how do we do it? I was in favour of an extension if it was found appropriate by a certain committee. I said please follow the process. That’s all. And, what was the process? Call for applications, go through an interview process, and select the right person. You can call me ignoramus, but at the time I did not know what happened between the captain and the coach,” he added.

The Virat Kohli-led side displayed a consistent performance in the format in away tours, winning limited-overs series in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and finished on top of the table at the round-robin stage, losing only just one match before the knockout stages. The men in blue, though crashed out in the semifinal, suffering a heavy defeat over New Zealand.

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