CHENNAI: The press conference to announce India's ODI squad for South Africa series turned into more of an event which saw chairman of the selection committee, Chetan Sharma, attempting to douse the fire with regards to the controversy surrounding the decision to remove Virat Kohli as captain from 50-overs format.
The end result was Sharma agreed with certain comments that Kohli made against the panel and at the same time, he disagreed with some.
Corroborating what BCCI president Sourav Ganguly stated in an interview, Sharma revealed that the selection panel did have a word with Kohli when he made his decision to step down as T20 captain and asked him to reconsider it. "It was a surprise for everyone to hear him quit T20 captaincy," Sharma said.
"All of us told him to reconsider because we could always discuss it after the World Cup. We felt it could affect the performances in the World Cup. It was told him for the sake of Indian cricket to please continue as captain and rethink his decision. The selectors, convenor (secretary Jay Shah) were there. When he said his decision, we were instantly taken by shock. All we needed was to get done with the World Cup and discuss it later," Sharma said.
While those comments backed what Ganguly said, Sharma also concurred with Kohli when it came to the decision to not continue with him as a captain in ODIs. That Kohli will find it difficult to keep the ODI team was never in doubt as teams usually don't have multiple captains for white-ball cricket and Sharma said the decision was taken with the 2023 World Cup in mind.
"The decision to quit T20 captaincy was his call. And we as selectors have to think of the ODI team as well. We wanted one captain for white-ball cricket because it will be easy to plan going forward. And all the selectors were unanimous about the decision and we communicated to him. We had a good conversation with him (Kohli) and even he agreed on to it. We want Kohli to keep getting runs and this team revolves around him. But as selectors we have to think about planning part as well because you cant have two captains in white-ball," he added.
Sharma also revealed that the selection panel only informed the decision to remove him as ODI captain after the World Cup because they didn't want affect the preparations. "We were in the cusp of the World Cup. We had to cool down things. It was not the right time," he said.
As Kohli revealed before leaving for South Africa, Sharma said the decision to remove him from ODI captaincy was communicated to him when the Test team was announced. And Sharma maintained that there was no communication gap between the selectors and the captain.
"There is no confusion at all. In the middle of the series (South Africa Tests), we can't call up and say 'you are not captain any more'. Which is why we gave both Kohli and Rohit (Sharma) the time to adjust to the role," he added.
With regards to the ODI team, KL Rahul will lead in South Africa after Rohit failed the fitness test.
Squad:
Rahul (C), Dhawan, Ruturaj, Kohli, Suryakumar, Shreyas, Venkatesh, Pant, Kishan, Chahal, Ashwin, Washington, Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar, Chahar, Prasidh, Thakur, Siraj.