Left-Arm Over | Story Of The Wounded Virat Kohli

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BCCI says Virat was adamant. First to quit T20 captaincy. And then to not quit ODI captaincy. In both cases, it made them unhappy. But it was BCCI’s eagerness to deliver a strong message that will haunt Virat for rest of his life. 

The much-hyped exotic ViKat wedding bash is finally over; the frenzy around the star couple reminded us all of Virushka wedding treat when Virat Kohli chartered a flight and tied the knot with Anushka Sharma in a luxurious Italian resort.

It’s been exactly four years since then. Virat is a father now and a contended man in his family space. But Virat is also a father figure now in the Team India dressing room and he certainly isn’t a happy man there. Amidst this reportage of various ceremonies in the celebrity wedding week, there came an unceremonious exit of a great and successful Indian skipper. 

Virat was dropped, rather sacked as ODI skipper and as news filters now, was accorded a basic courtesy call by BCCI president and the chairman of selectors to break the news first. But didn’t Virat deserve something better? 

Ironically, there is no one who can understand this better than Ganguly himself, who has gone through exactly the same thing in his playing days. The difference? Ganguly wasn’t scoring much with the bat then, Virat is still the most contributing man to the team’s score. One expects people to pass on their experiences in life and career, but certainly not what Ganguly has passed on to Virat. 

The secrecy, the hush-hush attitude and the hastiness of the decision to sack Virat, demands an explanation.  Sample this: Virat didn’t want to leave ODI captaincy but selectors were adamant to have one skipper for all white-ball formats. Ganguly says BCCI never wanted Virat to leave T20 captaincy but quit on his own. Why would Virat quit captaincy and continue playing in T20 for next year but wants to remain skipper for ODI two years hence? 

So as per BCCI, Virat was adamant. First to quit T20 captaincy. And then to not quit ODI captaincy. And in both cases, it made BCCI unhappy. Clearly, Virat was forced and arm-twisted in the T20 format and road-rolled in the ODI format at the behest of making a wholesome change to the dressing room culture or Virat, who raved about Dhoni’s unselfish nature and playing to team’s cause, has lost all his sportsman spirit suddenly. BCCI’s eagerness to deliver a message that will haunt Virat for the rest of his life, and when he looks back at his career stats and milestones, there will be this little blot. 

 While skippers in the past have been used and disposed at the liking and disliking of the Board mandarins, Team India has never been in a situation like this before. Rohit Sharma is deputy to Virat in Tests and Virat plays under him in T20Is and ODIs. Team settings in the past with multiple skippers, like Kumble-Dhoni or Dhoni-Virat, one retired from a format but here both Rohit and Virat are playing all three formats. In a quest to subdue an existing power centre, they have given birth to another power-centre. Pity the players in the dressing room, who will have to cater to both Virat and Rohit even now, to keep their balance of red and white-ball careers. 

The only man who is now put under immense pressure is coach Rahul Dravid, on whom wrests the sanctity and decorum of the dressing room. To take the team and the two parallel skippers along on every tour. Indian cricket has always seen the skipper getting unadulterated backing of the board officials but maybe there was a need to dilute it a bit, to cut to size individuals that may be overbearing but the entire incident could have been handled better. 

With latest developments of Omicron cases, tour to South Africa is still a debatable topic, and the ODI series begins only on January 19 — one month where anything could happen in these dangerous scenarios. Why the haste then? Maybe, the board should have sat and conversed with Virat, persuaded him the same way they did with a reluctant Dravid and VVS Laxman to take up the coaching job. 

Clearly, the board didn’t want to persuade. There was a need to pass on a message loud and clear. But will this solve all of Team India’s problems? Is this the solution to India’s unending wait for a T20 and ODI World Cup trophy? 

Time will certainly tell. For now it is telling a different story. Story of the wounded Virat.