IND vs SA | Not good to point fingers with South Africa tour coming up, says Kapil Dev after Kohli’s comments
Kapil Dev has reacted to the statements made by Virat Kohli in the pre-departure press conference saying that it is not good to point fingers with the South Africa tour coming up. Kohli said in press conference that there was no prior communication from BCCI regarding his ODI captaincy sacking.
Indian cricket is surrounded by talks of the underlying tension between Virat Kohli and BCCI administrators. Kohli was sacked from ODI captaincy ahead of the South Africa series recently, with Rohit Sharma replacing him as the full-time white-ball captain.
A fews days ago, BCCI president, Sourav Ganguly had stated that the selectors had requested Kohli to not step down from T20I captaincy and that the selectors insisted on having one captain for the two white-ball formats. This statement indicated that there was a clear communication from the board’s side.
However, Kohli said that his decision to quit T20I captaincy was "received well" and no one requested him not to step down from the role. He also added that he was informed of his removal from ODI captaincy just one and a half hour prior, during a call for selection of the Test squad for the South Africa series. His statements have boosted the talks of underlying tension between Kohli and administrators.
Reflecting on the whole issue, former India cricketer Kapil Dev has questioned the timing of Kohli’s comments saying that it is not good to point fingers at each other ahead of the South Africa tour.
“It is not good to point fingers on anybody at this point in time. The South Africa tour is coming and please pay attention to the tour,” Kapil told ABP News.
“I would say Board president is Board president but yes the Indian cricket team captain is also a big thing. But talking badly about each other in public, I don’t think it is a good thing, whether it is Sourav or Kohli.”
India will start their tour with the first of three Tests on December 26 in Centurion. Kapil opined that it is not right to "stroke a controversy "before an important series.
"Please control the situation and it's better to think about the country now," said India's 1983 World Cup winning captain.
"Whatever is wrong will be known in the future but I don't think it is right to stoke a controversy before a tour.”
Kohli also denied the rumors regarding the rift between him and Rohit. BCCI officials are yet to react to Kohli's comments.