Virat Kohli Was to be Issued Show Cause Notice by Sourav Ganguly; Ravi Shastri Saw It Coming But he Didn’t: BCCI Source

The 33-year-old also complained about the lack of communication between him and the board before removing him as ODI captain.

New Delhi: Former India captain Virat Kohli was set to be issued a show cause notice by BCCI President Sourav Ganguly for his emotional outburst in the press conference before leaving for the South Africa tour, according to a BCCI source as reported by India Ahead News. It is learnt that Ganguly, who was a successful India captain himself, had prepared a draft letter for the same and discussed the matter with the other BCCI members.

But the board members decided against it as the Indian team was leaving for the tour of South Africa and most of them reckoned that it will have a detrimental impact on the team and might take the focus away from such an important tour.

Kohli claimed that no one from the board or the selection committee had asked him to reconsider his decision to give up captaincy in the T20 cricket, contradicting Ganguly, who had said that he personally requested the star batter to not leave the leadership role in the shortest format of the game.

The 33-year-old also complained about the lack of communication between him and the board before removing him as ODI captain.

These comments made by Kohli in front of the media didn’t go down well with the BCCI as it eventually showed both board and Ganguly in poor light.

“And the board president was all for issuing a show cause notice to Kohli,” a source close to the development was quoted as saying by India Ahead News.

The tour of South Africa might have saved Kohli but another BCCI source added that the former India captain didn’t see it coming as compared to former India head coach Ravi Shastri who possibly did.

“Now that Kohli’s time is over and he perhaps didn’t see this coming, which Ravi Shastri did,” another source added.

Notably, Kohli had given up T20I captaincy after the 2021 T20 World Cup but BCCI’s decision to replace him as India’s ODI captain despite him wanting to continue in the post had led to controversy and the batter’s relation with the board and president Ganguly became tense and things are still not great between the two.

After losing the South Africa series, Kohli decided to quit as Test captain, and before announcing it, he even called the BCCI secretary Jay Shah. But, as per reports, he didn’t bother to call Ganguly.

However, Ganguly lauded Virat for taking the team to new heights in all formats of cricket during his tenure as India skipper, adding that the star batter’s decision to quit Test captaincy was a personal one and the board respects it immensely.

“Under Virat’s leadership Indian cricket has made rapid strides in all formats of the game… his decision is a personal one and bcci respects it immensely… he will be an important member to take this team to newer heights in the future. A great player. well done… @BCCI @imVkohli,” Ganguly said in his tweet.

On Wednesday, Virat began a new chapter in his career, playing as a pure batter for the first time in over five years in any format of the game.

(With Agency Inputs)