Virat Kohli will not just be remembered as a proficient captain, but a player who has brought in the aggressiveness amongst the players to fetch the best scores. Kohli stared off some modifications that the BCCI is now inculcating it into the game to help the players stay focused on fitness, prioritise the World Cup and equitably manage the workload. Nonetheless, since the national team could not fetch the trophy, the board was not late to replace him as a captain of the ODI matches post he stepped down from the role in the T20Is.
Kohli averred that he was merely informed 90 minutes before the meeting of the selection committee meeting that he have been sacked as the captain in ODIs, which further led to a scuffle between the erstwhile BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and chief selector Chetan Sharma.
The player mentioned the entire story exclusively on RCB Podcast Season 2, “Look, you play to win tournaments. I captained in Champions Trophy 2017, 2019 World Cup, I captained in World Test Championship, and T20 World Cup in 2021. After three [four] ICC tournaments, I was considered as a failed captain.
“I never judged myself from that point of view; what we ended up achieving as a team and as a cultural change that always going to be a matter of pride for me. A tournament happens for a certain period of time but a culture happens over a long period of time and for that, you need consistency for that you need more characters than just winning a tournament,” he elucidated.
Kohli also considered himself lucky for winning some of the ICC tournaments as a player under MS Dhoni’s leadership (ICC World Cup trophy in 2011 and the Champions Trophy in 2013 ).
“I won a World Cup as a player. I won the Champions Trophy as a player. I have been part of the team that has won five Test maces. If you look at that point of view there have been people, who have never won a World Cup,” he further averred.
He has now shifted his focus towards the ICC Cricket World Cup post returning to India. In partnership with the Indian team skipper Rohit Sharma, Kohli will give his hundred percent to achieve the best in their all considering this could be their last 50-over World Cup.
