Backroom reports: How the ODI captaincy change happened

A latest report from Cricbuzz.com suggests that Virat Kohli was due to make the announcement about quitting ODI captaincy, but the selectors outraced him to it, by making the announcement during the reveal of the Test squad for the South Africa tour.

The ODI captaincy saga has been running for a few days now with BCCI reportedly sacking Kohli from the helm after he voluntarily quit T20I captaincy post the T20 World Cup in UAE earlier this year. Reportedly, BCCI and the selectors were not in favour of split captaincy and this was a move coming since the 2019 World Cup semi-final exit.

“It’s a call that the BCCI and 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 ANI.

Kohli had, however, expressed clearly in his statement at the time of quitting T20I captaincy that he wished to continue duties in Tests and ODIs. “Understanding workload is a very important thing and considering my immense workload over the last 8-9 years playing all 3 formats and captaining regularly for last 5-6 years, I feel I need to give myself space to be fully ready to lead the Indian team in Test and ODI cricket,” Virat Kohli said in his statement.

Despite this and his record which boasts of a win percentage above 70 and bilateral series wins in 15 of the 19 series’ he led India in, the selectors decided to sack him, but it wasn’t something Kohli wasn’t pondering himself according to the report.

“He had often said that confidentially…that he would give up the white-ball captaincy,” said a source told Cricbuzz. “Something should be coming soon,” it was said a while before the incident. It is believed that the selectors and Sourav Ganguly contacted Kohli after they decided on moving on from him and gave him some time to make an announcement himself.

But mysteriously Kohli did not make one when he had the opportunity to do so, instead placing the onus on the selectors to sack him publically, which they eventually did,

How it all unfolded in the Test selection meeting with Virat Kohli

The selectors are believed to have met for picking the Test squad with Kohli joining virtually. “The team was read out to him” according to the report with Kohli raising no objections. On a previous occasion, Kohli had come on really strong against the new selection committee when they ignored Shikhar Dhawan from the ODI squad in March. This time, though, there was no resistance even when the switch in vice-captaincy (Rohit Sharma was made vice-captain ahead of Ajinkya Rahane) was conveyed to the Test skipper.

It is believed that soon after this meeting, the selectors met again to decide on the future of the ODI captaincy and unanimously decided on handing it to Rohit Sharma, who according to several sources, wasn’t keen on taking up just T20I captaincy. “He would accept the job only if the entire white-ball responsibility was entrusted to him”, the report states.

Did Virat Kohli challenge the selectors to publically strip him off captaincy? Did he not wish to continue as ODI captain either way? Was he about to make the announcement when the selectors decided to throw him under the bus and make the announcement themselves? Was he ever given an ultimatum like a few other reports suggested? We’ll likely know these answers in due course of time, but for now, the drama around the ODI captaincy will continue like in the last few days.