Controversy after every question. Controversy after every answer. Controversy about everything. Controversy after every silence. The picture of Indian cricket is similar these days. When someone speaks, there is a dispute. If someone remains silent, there is a dispute. There is controversy over the timing of one’s silence. The timing of one’s speaking creates a big controversy. There is a dispute due to the departure of someone, then the arrival of someone is a bigger dispute than that. There is a separate dispute over the methods of arrival and departure. Overall, the picture has become quite complicated for some time now. Like those lanes of a maze, from which in trying to get out, they go on getting trapped deeper.
Team India is going through a phase of change, but change is not easy every time. Or in English, it is not smooth. Replacing the old and installing the new one becomes very difficult at times. This is what happened with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. It started with the end of Ravi Shastri’s coaching tenure. Or say that with the announcement of Virat that he will not captain the team in this format after the T20 World Cup. This announcement of Kohli was already being heard. But it felt a bit strange to announce it just before the World Cup.
Then the scene changed. And changed very quickly. In place of Virat, Rohit Sharma was given the command of the ODI series on the South Africa series. The thing was surprising. Although the discussions were also heated about it. Said selectors did not want to have two captains in the white ball. BCCI President Sourav Ganguly came forward and said that Kohli was talked about this. The selectors also spoke. Ganguly said that he himself had spoken to Virat and asked him not to give up the captaincy of T20, but he did not agree. After this the selectors felt that two different captains in ODIs and T20s were not good. It was decided that Rohit should be given this responsibility in place of Kohli. Ganguly said that it was discussed with Virat about this.
Legally, the dispute should have ended here, but after that the events changed rapidly. On Monday, news came that Rohit will not play in the Test series in South Africa. He has a hamstring injury. Things got worse when the talk of Kohli withdrawing from the ODI series started coming to the fore. It was said that Kohli wants to attend his daughter’s first birthday. Kohli’s daughter’s birthday is on January 11 and that day will be Kohli’s 100th and the third Test match of the South Africa series. That is, the matter was not as straightforward as it appeared.
Virat-Rohit dispute is old, all the turmoil started from 2018
Former captain Mohammad Azharuddin also said that Kohli’s rest is not a problem but timing is a big issue. There were reports that both, Virat and Rohit, did not want to play under each other’s captaincy. There were speculations of conspiracies on social media. Some started talking about injustice with Virat and some were seen standing with Rohit. The news from the board’s side was not completely clear. The captain and board were not showing on the same page. And at least such news was coming in the media.
Before leaving for the South Africa tour on Wednesday, Kohli said many such things in his press conference which gave more air to the controversies. Or as Kohli tried to explain. Kohli said, ‘I am available for selection for ODIs. Some things which came out in the past that I was joining the programs, such things are not reliable. I was contacted one and a half hours before the selection of the Test team and five of the selectors told me that I will not captain the ODI team.
Now this thing is somewhat different from what Ganguly said in which he himself and chairman of selector Chetan Sharma had spoken to him before making Rohit the ODI captain. The entire picture was explained to them by the board and the selection panel.
Now only the board and Kohli know what the real thing is, but whatever happened, it could have been handled comfortably. Earlier, the board had faced controversies at the end of Anil Kumble’s coaching tenure.
This picture is not good for the board. Ganguly’s administration is amazing. Rahul Dravid’s gentle behavior is to take everyone along. Every team management has a different mindset. He wants to lead the team according to his thinking and strategy. The trio of Ganguly, Rahul and Rohit are also thinking similarly. Virat is undoubtedly the most captain of the Indian team. His records in Tests are excellent. But his bat is angry with him. He is not seen in his old complexion. Indian cricket undoubtedly needs batsman Virat a lot. And the sooner there is an end to the ongoing controversies in Team India, the better.
Rohit vs Virat
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