Former India cricketer turned veteran commentator Saba Karim has shared his views on why Virat Kohli has been sacked as the ODI captain of the Indian team. Karim has shared that India’s inability to win a single ICC trophy under his leadership could be the reason behind the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) decision as well.
However, the former player has said this on the YouTube show Khelneeti where he has revealed that Kohli had himself announced his decision to resign from the leadership of the shortest format. Karim, however, has added that Kohli never said about leaving the captaincy of ODI cricket as well.
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Saba Karim said: “It is right to say that Kohli has been sacked. He made the announcement while leaving the T20I captaincy and could have confirmed that he does not want to continue as ODI captain as well. This meant he wanted to remain ODI captain. Not being able to win an ICC trophy could have cost Virat Kohli the ODI captaincy.”
While many media reports suggested that Virat Kohli was not consulted by the board regarding this, Saba Karim believes that head coach Rahul Dravid has had a chat with him as well.
He said: “I am confident that Rahul Dravid or someone from the BCCI would have had a word with Virat Kohli regarding their plans of introducing split captaincy. Dravid has often put emphasis on having clear communication with players. So, when it comes to taking such a big decision, I believe someone would have surely talked to Kohli.”
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On the other hand, another former India cricketer Nikhil Chopra, who was also there on Khelneeti’s YouTube channel, has backed Rohit Sharma on being named as the ODI captain. He said that it was the right step taken by the BCCI. However, Rohit Sharma has been appointed as the deputy of the longer format too.
“There would have been confusion if there had been different captains in ODIs and T20Is. Kohli still has an opportunity to clinch an ICC trophy and the World Test Championship is going to be crucial for him. Whereas Rohit has two World Cups coming up and he now gets a chance to build a team for the same,” he stated.
