Sourav Ganguly Clears Air On His Role In Virat Kohli Stepping Down From Team India Captaincy, Says,' He Was Not Interested...,'

Sourav Ganguly clarified on his role in Virat Kohli stepping down as the skipper of Team India.

Virat Kohli and Sourav Ganguly.

Indian cricket went through a major controversy last year when Virat Kohli stepped down from Test captaincy. The scenario in which the star batter finished his leadership stint left a lot of questions unanswered in the minds of cricket fans. Kohli announced he will step as the T20 skipper before the World Cup began in 2021. However, what was shocking that he resigned from all three formats soon after the tournament finished. At that time, Indian cricket legend Sourav Ganguly was BCCI president and many reports claimed that he played a big role in Kohli stepping down from captaincy in the all three formats.

Ganguly has now cleared the air about his role in Kohli's decision to step down from captaincy in all three formats. (Old Video Of MS Dhoni's Fangirl Hugging And Kissing Him Goes Viral; Watch)

"I didn't remove Virat from captaincy. I have said this several times. He (Kohli) was not interested to lead in T20Is. So, after he made that decision, I told him, if you're not interested to lead in T20Is, it's better if you step down from entire white-ball cricket formats. Let there be a white-ball captain and a red-ball captain," Sourav Ganguly said on Dadagiri.

"I pushed Rohit Sharma a bit to take up the captaincy role because he wasn't interested to lead in all three formats of the game. So, maybe I have a bit of contribution in that but no matter who is administrating, it's the players who perform well on the field. No body from outside can contribute much.

"I was appointed as the President of BCCI to work for the betterment of Indian cricket, this is a small part of it."

After Kohli's resignationation, Rohit Sharma was given the Men In Blue captaincy in T20Is, ODIs as well as Tests. (Happy Birthday Shikhar Dhawan: Story Of How He Fell In Love With Estranged Wife Aesha Mukerji And What Went Wrong - In Pics)

"It has been 7 years of hard work, toil and relentless perseverance everyday to take the team in the right direction. I have done the job with absolute honesty and left nothing out there. Every thing has to come to a halt at some stage and for me as Test captain of India, it's now. There have been many ups and also some downs along the journey, but never has there been a lack of effort or lack of belief. I have always believed in giving my 120 per cent in everything I do, and if I can't do that, I know its not the right thing to do. I have absolute clarity in my heart and I cannot be dishonest to my team," Kohli had said in his statement then.

"I want to thank the BCCI for giving me the opportunity to lead my country for such a long period of time and more importantly, to all the teammates who bought into the vision I had for the team from day one and never gave up in any situation. You guys have made this journey so memorable and beautiful. To Ravi bhai and the support group who were the engine behind this vehicle that moved us upwards in Test cricket consistently, you all have played a massive role in bringing this vision to life. Lastly, a big thank you to MS Dhoni who believed in me as a captain and found me to be an able individual who could take Indian Cricket forward."