Selector Chetan Sharma backs Sourav Ganguly's claim to urge Virat Kohli to continue as Indian skipper

Virat Kohli being dropped for ODI as skipper continues to be a debated topic. Meanwhile, selector Chetan Sharma has backed BCCI president Sourav Ganguly's claims that Kohli was urged to continue.

Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli is not leading the side in the limited-overs. While he stepped down from the role in the Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) after the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), he was dropped for the role in the One-Day Internationals (ODIs) by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Meanwhile, Indian selector Chetan Sharma has revealed some details regarding the same and BCCI president Sourav Ganguly.

Last month, Ganguly had revealed that he had requested Kohli not to step down from the role. However, Kohli later stated that he was informed just one and a half hours ago before the Test squad announcement for the ongoing South Africa tour that he has will not be leading the ODI side. At the same time, there wasn't any proper discussion held.

As the BCCI announced the ODI squad for the SA tour on Friday, responding to the enquiry regarding the ongoing saga, Chetan clarified that there was no confusion between the two parties. He also backed Ganguly on his claims that Kohli was indeed asked not to step down from the role.

"When you're in the middle of the series, you can't always say such things. You decide only when the selectors start thinking about that format. So, when the selectors discussed, and we feel we should have one white-ball captain, this is what we told Virat, and he agreed. We communicated what was on our minds, and we are always ready, 24x7, to discuss anything. There's no problem at all," Chetan said.

"We wanted to announce it then because we don't want to disturb them in the middle of the series [against South Africa]. We gave Virat and Rohit time to process it and get it into their systems. Selectors have communicated brilliantly with the board. There is no communication problem with the team management, the captain, and even the domestic players," Chetan added.

"All five of us speak to all the domestic players because that is our job, that is our duty. We told Virat then to give everyone time. And, we informed before the meeting. You can tell him only when the selectors have met and agreed. One of our selectors was in South Africa [during India A's tour], so we had to get everyone together to meet," Chetan further clarified.

Elucidating Ganguly's claims, Chetan contended, "When it comes to planning, the selectors were not comfortable with two white-ball captains. So we thought we must have one white-ball captain and one red-ball captain, and he [Kohli] is the red-ball captain. It was hard, but we have to make hard decisions as selectors. Same with the playing XI, you take hard decisions. We took this decision, I know Virat is an important player, and he is going to be a crucial player for us in the coming days and coming years."