India Tour of South Africa: Kohli- Rohit Sharma captaincy controversy- What comes as a big problem for the BCCI, India Test captain Virat Kohli has pulled out of South Africa ODIs after being sacked from the 50-over cricket as skipper. He informed the BCCI that he is unavailable for the ODI series as the tour coincides with his daughter’s 1st birthday. The BCCI is now in fix and they must be fretting over the availability of injured Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the two different formats. At InsideSport.IN we take a look at the few biggest captaincy controversies in Indian cricket. Follow IND vs SA live updates on InsideSport
India Tour of South Africa: Virat Kohli pulls out of ODI series, From Kohli-Rohit Sharma to Ganguly-Dravid- check biggest captaincy controversies in Indian cricket
Virat Kohli- Rohit Sharma
Virat Kohli was sacked as the ODI skipper last week after BCCI released a statement ahead of the India Tour of South Africa. Ever since Rohit Sharma was named as ODI captain, Kohli did not react to the development or released any statement. The Test captain is active on social media but refrained from posting anything. As per sources, Kohli has been shell shocked by the incident.
Sourav Ganguly-Rahul Dravid
A spat with former India coach Greg Chappell had cost Sourav Ganguly captaincy in 2005. The Prince of Kolkata was having a lean patch with the bat and after the India tour of Zimbabwe, he was asked to resign. The controversy had taken a big shape in Indian cricket with Ganguly getting dropped as captain and player from the ODIs while Rahul Dravid was named successor. He made a comeback after a year gap. Ganguly had stated that Dravid didn’t had the courage to revolt against Chappell.
“Because of Greg Chappell, the dressing room was divided. Rahul Dravid is the type of person who wants everything to go smoothly. He knew that things were going wrong, but he had no courage to revolt and tell him (Chappell) that he was doing wrong,” Ganguly had said in an interview.
Azharuddin-Sachin Tendulkar
Mohammad Azharuddin & Sachin Tendulkar were pivotal players for India during the 1990s. In 1998, reports had emerged of a rift between the duo. Tendulkar had replaced Azharuddin as captain from 1996-97 and the second half of 1999. However, the batting legend couldn’t turn around India’s fortunes and Azharuddin was handed back captaincy. Azhar’s downfall occurred at a time Sachin Tendulkar was making his rise in Indian cricket.
Former India cricketer Vinod Kambli had once revealed that Azharuddin was the reason behind Tendulkar’s decision to quit captaincy despite the latter’s brilliant form with the bat. Tendulkar led India in 25 Tests and won 4 matches and emerged victories in 23/73 ODIs during his stints as captain at a young age.
Sunil Gavaskar-Kapil Dev
The incident dates back to 1984 when Kapil Dev was dropped from the team. Kapil had claimed that captain Sunil Gavaskar was responsible for his axe. The Kolkata crowd had also expressed their discontentment by throwing rotten vegetables at Gavaskar. The latter had denied any involvement in the decision. While Kapil Dev led India to the 1983 World Cup triumph, Sunil Gavaskar guided India to the 1985 World Championship.
“When Kapil was dropped for one Test, the Calcutta encounter between India and David Gower’s Englishmen in the 1984-85 series, the blame was conveniently put on me. But the truth of the matter is that his being dropped from the team was not proposed by me as the late Hanumant Singh, who was a member of the selection committee then, attested in an article he wrote a year later,” Gavaskar had told media.
“Whatever I might be, I am not stupid when it comes to cricket and I wasn’t going to suggest dropping my one match-winner and game-changer and thereby reduce India’s chances of winning even further. However, as a part of the selection committee, albeit without a vote, I was collectively responsible for the decision,” he added.
India Tour of South Africa: Virat Kohli pulls out of ODI series, From Kohli-Rohit Sharma to Ganguly-Dravid- check biggest captaincy controversies in Indian cricket
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