Virat Kohli’s unceremonious exit as ODI captain smells of palace intrigue

Virat Kohli’s removal as captain of India’s one-day international cricket team, on a day when his run as Test skipper was extended, smells of palace intrigue. Or, does it? We have been left scratching our heads, trying to figure out why he was removed as ODI captain at a time when the selectors did not pick the team to play three limited-over games in South Africa next month.

Can Indian cricket not do away with palace intrigues? Or, is it too much to ask of the Board of Control for Cricket in India that has a former India captain — and a very successful one, though without an ICC Trophy — at the helm as president to be more graceful, if not professional, in handling something as sensitive as removing a captain who has India’s best win-loss record?

Like many of us, Virat Kohli will now watch with interest if the decision to sack him and hand the reins over to Rohit Sharma, elder by a year-and-a-half, will drive India to an ICC ODI title after a whole decade. If the Board’s thinktank was looking for a succession plan, it may have plumped for a younger captain. But it does seem that such a plan was not quite the agenda.

That the Board has not said a word about the sacking and that some officials hide behind the veil of anonymity when sharing inside information raises doubts about the real reason for the decision. At the moment, we can only examine a host of possibilities, against the backdrop of facts, and pick one suits our fancy.

What could be the logical thinking that compelled the decision-makers to strip Kohli of the captaincy of the ODI team? Was he autocratic as some reports would have us believe? Was he past his sell-by date as ODI captain? Could the responsibilities of leading the side in all three formats left him jaded as he got older?

The flurry of questions come through thick and fast. Is the BCCI working on a succession plan as far as the 2023 Cricket World Cup in India is concerned? Or did he ruffle Board officials’ feathers, inviting them to use the axe? And, did the cricket dispensation treat him with the respect he deserves by making him aware of the sacking?

For all you know, he would have been aware of the fate that was about to befall on him.

At the toss in his last Twenty20 game as India captain, he said, “I have been proud of how the team has played and grateful for the opportunity to have led India in the T20 format for so many years. Now, it is time for the next lot to take this team forward. Obviously, Rohit (Sharma) here is… you know… overlooking things for a while now and we will be leaders in the group.”

The suggestion that Rohit Sharma was ‘overlooking’ things for a while was an indication as early as on 8 November  that Virat Kohli knew that his days as ODI captain were also numbered. Perhaps, it will be said that he was given 48 hours till Wednesday to step down from the ODI captaincy himself. It would seem that by not stepping down, he was daring the powers-that-be.

It is possible that he alienated himself from the team over time. But that is a process all captains go through in their careers. It is not possible for them to be always one of the boys especially if they are to have meetings with team management, Board officials, match referees, selectors and others. All this and more could lead to distancing of relationships with the players.

However, that cannot be a good enough reason to show him the door.

To my mind, the argument that he was a poor leader does not hold water since the same dispensation — call them selectors or Board officials or by another name —  did not remove him from Test captaincy. By naming him as skipper of the team that will play three Tests in South Africa, the decision-makers have tacitly accepted that there is no real issue with his leadership.

If indeed it were true that his captaincy bordered on the autocratic with very little room for inclusiveness, as some would have us believe, the Board officials and selectors should have stood him down as Test captain as well. If he were being punished for handling senior players and junior players with disdain, why did it not extend to Test cricket?

Let us then look at his captaincy record in ODI cricket. It will suffice to say that no other Indian skipper who has led the team in 50 or more matches has had the joy of securing a winning percentage of 70 as Virat Kohli has in the 95 games he has led India in. And it will be patently unfair to pick only the ‘failure’ to win ICC titles as the reason for his sacking.

For, barring Kapil Dev (1983 World Cup) and MS Dhoni (2007 World Twenty20, 2011 World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy), no Indian captain has had the privilege of lifting an ICC trophy all by himself before handing it over to his team-mates. Sourav Ganguly, of course, was captain when India shared the 2002 Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka.

The overdrive on which some went about Kohli not winning an ICC Trophy and the whisper campaign from England about senior Test players had complained about his captaincy to Board officials were indications that he would come under immense pressure before the end of the year. True enough, he gave up captaincy of the shortest format and was sacked from another.

To be sure, while he led India to 65 victories in the 95 ODI matches he was in charge of as captain, it would appear as if Virat Kohli was not exactly winning friends. And that could be the single biggest reason, though flippant, for his facing the ignominy of being removed as skipper despite boasting of a fabulous record.

G Rajaraman is a sports journalist with 38 years standing and prides himself as a student of sport.

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