BCCI were harsh in removing Virat Kohli without informing him, says Danish Kaneria

The BCCI on Wednesday, December 8, announced that Rohit Sharma will replace Virat Kohli as the ODI captain, and will take over the reins during the South Africa tour. After the conclusion of the T20 World Cup 2021, Kohli had stepped down from the captaincy role in the shortest format of the game, and Rohit was appointed as the skipper of the T20I team. The Indian opener will now lead the national side in white-ball cricket, while Kohli will continue as the skipper of the Test team.

Several reports had suggested that Virat Kohli was sacked from ODI captaincy, and later BCCI president, Sourav Ganguly admitted that the selectors decided against having different captains for two white-ball formats. 

Kohli was appointed as India's full-time ODI and T20I captain with MS Dhoni stepping down from the role in 2017 and has had great success in bilateral series across formats. However, the 33-year-old failed to claim an ICC trophy for the India senior Men's cricket team. Under his leadership, Team India qualified for World Test Championship 2021 final, reached the semis in, 2019 ODI World Cup, and led 2-1 in Tests in England earlier this year.

Reflecting on the sacking of Kohli from the ODI captaincy,  Danish Kaneria stated that the BCCI failed to handle the subject in the right manner.

"The only two superstars going around in world cricket at the moment are Virat Kohli and Babar Azam. You should respect you superstars. The BCCI were harsh in removing Kohli without informing him. Sourav Ganguly is such a big name, a former captain. He should have communicated to Virat that we would like for Rohit to captain. Another thing that went against him was that Kohli was not scoring runs as big and fluently as he used to,"  Kaneria said on his YouTube channel.

Kaneria further added that considering Kohli’s records in the game of cricket, the 33-year-old deserved more respect.

"Did the BCCI do the right thing with Kohli? I don't think so. They did not give him respect. He has gotten India 65 wins as captain, the fourth highest by any India skipper. The thing is why didn't you inform someone whose record as captain isn't bad at all. Second most-highest runs as India ODI skipper. Based on his record, he deserved respect. Sure, he hasn't won an ICC trophy as captain but the way he has led is phenomenal," Kaneria pointed out.