Published: Dec 17, 2021, 11:33 PM (IST)
Edited: Dec 17, 2021, 11:33 PM (IST)
Delhi: India Test captain Virat Kohli’s explosive press conference continues to dominate headlines around the cricketing globe. With battle lines drawn between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Kohli, the latter’s childhood coach has now given his two cents on the whole episode. Calling it ‘definitely shocking’ – Kohli’s coach refrained from commenting much on the ‘needless controversy’.
From answering about his infamous sacking as ODI captain to not being asked to reconsider his leadership in the shortest (T20I) format – the 33-year-old Kohli made some startling revelations during the customary presser ahead of India’s tour to South Africa. Kohli also claimed that BCCI conveyed the decision to remove him as ODI captain just a couple of hours before the Test squad announcement for the upcoming series against the Proteas.
“This is definitely shocking and this is news to me as well that Virat Kohli said something like this in the press conference. What comment should I give, about why it has happened and why such a thing should not have happened,” Kohli’s childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma said on the Khelneeti podcast.
“I don’t want to speak much on the subject because it’s directly linked with Virat. But I feel that it could’ve been better if such strong words weren’t used from both sides. Team is doing good, I don’t think we need a needless controversy,” Sharma added.
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BCCI (@BCCI) December 16, 2021
During the controversial presser, Kohli also contradicted BCCI president Sourav Ganguly’s statement that he was asked not to quit T20I captaincy.
“I will only want to say that they are the authority and whatever decision they have taken, they would have taken it thoughtfully and my statement about this does not hold any significance, whether they have done right or wrong,” Sharma said.
The 56-year-old went on to add that there should be transparency between the Indian cricket board and the national team captain so that controversies like these can be avoided in the future.
“This is something unusual I have heard, I didn’t see Virat’s press conference as well. This communication gap should not have happened. According to me, there should be transparency between them and I don’t know why this has happened or why such a communication gap was there,” Sharma said.
Meanwhile, Kohli-led Team India reached Johannesburg on Thursday for the upcoming 3-match series against South Africa, starting December 26 in Centurion.
