New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly on Thursday broke his silence on the captaincy debate of Rohit Sharma replacing Virat Kohli as the ODI skipper, stating that Kohli’s inability to win an ICC trophy as captain cost him the top post in ODIs as well.
ICC trophy has eluded India since 2013 when they won the Champions Trophy in England under MS Dhoni. Virat Kohli led India in four ICC tournaments but failed to win a title for the country. India has lost the 2014 T20 World Cup final to Sri Lanka, 2016 T20 World Cup semi-final to West Indies, 2017 Champions Trophy final to Pakistan, 2015 and 2019 ODI World Cup semi-finals to Australia and New Zealand, respectively, while the final of the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship to New Zealand in 2021.
“It’s a call that the BCCI and the selectors took together. Actually, the BCCI had requested Virat to not step down as the T20I skipper but obviously, he did not agree. And the selectors then did not feel it right to have two different captains for two white-ball formats,” Ganguly was quoted as saying by Timesnow.
“I can’t explain more about all was discussed and what selectors have said, but this is primary reason (Not Winning ICC Trophy) for having Rohit Sharma as White Ball Captain and Virat Kohli accepted it,” said Ganguly.
However, Ganguly showed his faith in both Rohit and Kohli’s abilities and thanked the latter for his service as India’s ODI skipper.
“We have full faith in Rohit Sharma’s leadership abilities, and Virat will continue as the Test captain. We as BCCI are confident that Indian cricket is in good hands. We thank Virat Kohli for his contributions as captain in the white-ball format,” the BCCI president added.
Before the T20 World Cup, Kohli had announced on social media that he would give up captaincy in the shortest format after the tournament in order to manage his workload.
Kohli led India in 95 ODI matches and 65 of them turned out to be on a winning note. Under his captaincy, India went to the final of ICC Champions Trophy and semis of the 2019 World Cup.
 president Sourav Ganguly on Thursday said Kohli's inability to win an ICC trophy as captain cost him the top post in ODIs as well.){kind=link}