Former Indian cricket team captain and BCCI president Sourav Ganguly stated that Virat Kohli's decision to step down from the Test captaincy came as a surprise to the board and that they were not prepared for the situation.
Kohli left the Test captaincy in January 2022 right after the Test series against South Africa away from home. He had earlier quit the T20I captaincy and was removed from the ODI captaincy roleover which he had a public spat with Ganguly.
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Ganguly then defended the board's stance of appointing Rohit Sharma as the new captain as he felt that the senior Indian cricketer, who had already started leading India in the limited overs formats was the best fit.
Speaking to AajTak, the former BCCI president said,
BCCI were not prepared for Virat Kohli leaving the Test captaincy. It was unexpected for us also after the South Africa tour. Only Virat Kohli can reveal why he left the captaincy. There is no point talking about this now because Virat Kohli left the Test captaincy. Selectors had to appoint an India captain. And Rohit was the best option at that time.
India recently lost to Australia in the final of the World Test Championship under Rohit Sharma's leadership. This was India's second consecutive WTC final defeat after losing against New Zealand in 2021.
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Team India will next tour West Indies where they will play two Test matches, three ODIs and five T20Is. The Test series start on July 12.
