MUMBAI: India’s red-ball captain Virat Kohli will miss the One Day International series in South Africa while white-ball captain Rohit Sharma will not be available for the Test series. Kohli is the Test captain and Rohit is the newly appointed white-ball captain of India. His being unavailable for their respective formats has nothing to do with the ongoing controversy surrounding Team India’s white-ball change of captaincy.
Kohli had already informed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that he would take a break in early January. Since the ODI series coincides with his daughter’s first birthday, Kohli had stated that he cannot participate in the ODI series.
Meanwhile, Sharma has been ruled out due to a hamstring injury. Fortunately, the injury is not a tear and so the opener is expected to be available in three weeks’ time to lead the white-ball side.
On Sunday, Sharma went through the nets session and suffered a minor hand injury when a rising delivery in the nets hit him on the glove. The batsman was in pain but recovered quickly. It is not the hand injury that has ruled him out of the Test against South Africa.
The developments, while a mere coincidence, are bound to give rise to rumors and controversies regarding the personal relationship between the two biggest cricketers on the global stage.
News – Priyank Panchal replaces injured Rohit Sharma in India’s Test squad. Rohit has injured his left hamstring… https://t.co/lV0AKZlk1A
—BCCI (@BCCI) 1639402626000
Nearly three months after Kohli stepped down from the T20I captaincy, the BCCI announced through a very curt press statement that Sharma would replace him as the white-ball captain (ODIs and T20Is). Next day BCCI President Sourav Ganguly sent a statement which said he had “personally spoken with Kohli” and so did the selectors. Ganguly revealed that the board had asked the 33-year-old not to resign from T20 captaincy.
Kohli has not yet responded to the BCCI’s decision nor to Ganguly’s statement. However, TOI can confirm that the former India white-ball captain “understands” the reasons for calling out BCCI.
TOI had first broke the news of Kohli stepping down as the white-ball captain on September 13. On 16 September, via a social media statement, Kohli resigned as India’s T20 captain, but added that he would remain in Tests and the team’s ODI captain. BCCI sources confirmed at the time that there was no chance of a split in the white-ball captaincy and there was only a short time left for Sharma to be handed over the ODI captaincy.
Both Kohli and Sharma have been in focus for the last four years for having two ‘alpha men’ in Team India’s dressing room who allegedly found it difficult to get along with each other over and over again.
However, under Ravi Shastri As head coaches, both the cricketers carried out their professional responsibilities and had a friendly personal relationship. Now these two star cricketers will have to manage the new head coach Rahul DravidBiggest task.
“Over the years, the Indian dressing room has been full of arrogance. Be it Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar, Mohammad Azharuddin and Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni and Virender Sehwag or Gautam Gambhir. But that doesn’t mean it boils down to what they do and do there on the field. They are professionals and need to behave in a certain way at all times,” say those who track these two individuals closely.
The two men are now likely to play together only after the team returns home from South Africa.
Meanwhile, all speculations about Kohli leaving the white-ball format are just speculations.
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