BCCI President Sourav Ganguly clears the air around all the speculations after Virat Kohli decided to step down as the captain of team India’s T20 team after the ongoing T20 World Cup. Ganguly said he was shocked when Virat Kohli informed BCCI that he wants to step down as the captain of India’s T20 squad. Ganguly clearly stated that it was his ‘own decision’ and there was absolutely no pressure from the Board. Kohli stated that he only wants to continue as a player in the shortest format of the game and not as a captain after the ICC event. Kohli cited ‘workload’ as the primary reason of him quitting from the captaincy position. Days later, Kohli also decided to step down as the captain of RCB from the upcoming edition of IPL.
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“I was surprised. It was a decision perhaps he took after the England series, and it’s his decision. Neither did we speak to Virat nor did we put any pressure, we never pressurize anyone. I have been a player and I would never do such a thing,” Ganguly told India Today.
In a conversation with India Today, Ganguly said that it is not easy to captain team India in all three formats of the game. It is a very powerful and influential job and also drains a player’s mind mentally. Ganguly understands it because he himself was the captain of team India for 6 years.
“There are more games now and it’s difficult to captain for such a long time across formats. I have myself been a captain (for five years).”
“I was a captain for six years, it looks good from the outside that you are leading your nation and it is at one level. There is lot of fame and respect but internally, the player has a mental and physical burn-out and it’s not about Ganguly, Dhoni or Virat. Even the captains who come in future will also feel the pressure. It’s a tough job,” he said.
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When asked about Kohli not getting an international hundred in the last two years, Ganguly said that any great player, who has played for a long time, goes through this phase.
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“It will happen (bad patch). A player who has played for long time, Virat in fact has played for 11 years (13 actually), every season won’t be the same. Virat is a human and not a machine. It’s not that you put him in a machine and runs will flow, he is human, who would nick a few, footwork will be iffy …
“The graph was up and then it came down and it will again go up and you will see the vintage Virat,” he explained.
Ganguly also commented on MS Dhoni being the mentor for team India for the ICC T20 World Cup.
“Me and secretary Jay (Shah) had long discussion on how to involve Dhoni. Look, he hasn’t left competitive cricket so he can’t be involved for a long time. It is only for this tournament. He has won 3 World Cups (ICC trophies), so we thought of adding him and we hope it would only be a good thing. Nothing wrong in it. Let’s see,” he said.
When asked if there would be a clash of ideas with so many different types of brains currently in the dressing room, Ganguly said: “MS is a matured person. He knows where to stop and where to go, all these things were discussed before bringing him on board,” he said.
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