December 15
Virat Kohli About His Captaincy…
As scheduled, the Indian team will leave for South Africa tour on December 16 and will gather in Mumbai to go for a four-day quarantine on December 12. India is scheduled to play three Tests starting on December 26 and then three ODIs as well.
Just before the series, India’s Test captain Virat Kohli appeared in front of the media for the first time amid controversies and cleared many speculations & discussions.
Speaking on his availability in the ODI series against South Africa and his removal from the captaincy of ODIs, he said, ‘”When I told BCCI that I want to give up T20I captaincy, it was accepted really well. There was no hesitancy. I was told that it was a progressive step. I informed at that time that I would like to lead in ODIs and Tests’.
But, he was removed from the captaincy of ODI.
Regarding the removal from the captaincy of ODI, he said that the selection committee spoke to me one and a half hours before the announcement. The chief selector had discussed about the Test team. After that, before concluding, the selectors told me that I would not be the ODI captain. I don’t mind it. After that there was no talk about it’.
He further added, “I was and I am available for selection all this time. You should not be asking me this question, honestly. This question should be asked to people who are writing about these things and their sources, because as far as I’m concerned, I was always available’.
Before Team India leaves for South Africa, the controversy over Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma came to an end on Wednesday. He made it clear that there is no estrangement between Rohit and him.
Kohli said, ‘”I have no problems with Rohit. I’ve been clarifying this for the last two years. I’m really tired of it. Any action or communication from me will never be to demean the team. I’m committed to Indian cricket. My responsibility is to push the team in the right direction’.
“Rohit is a very able captain and tactically very sound and we have seen it in the IPL as well as for India. Along with Rahul (Dravid) bhai, who is a great man manager, they will get my 100 per cent support in ODIs and T20Is.”
