‘Bound to happen’: Why Virat Kohli was sacked as ODI captain

The Indian cricket board said on Wednesday that it was handing over the ODI captainship to Rohit Sharma, effectively sacking Virat Kohli as captain of the limited-overs squad.

Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Sharma had already taken over India’s T20I captaincy after the T20 World Cup and the recent decision was “bound to happen”, according to former cricketer Aakash Chopra.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, the commentator said that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) made a distinction between white-ball and red-ball cricket.

“We had already discussed earlier that it was bound to happen. The day Virat Kohli quit T20I captaincy, it was a foregone conclusion that he would lose his one-day captaincy also very soon,” he said.

“You will go with the captain of the T20s. Who is captaining T20Is will also obviously lead in ODIs.”

The 44-year-old also said that the country could not have a player as Test and ODI skipper but not as T20I captain. 

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“World over it has never happened that the Test captain is an ODI captain and is not a T20 captain. Or as Test captain and T20 captain but not in One Day,” he said.

“Distinction is always about white ball cricket and red ball cricket and that distinction has been settled.”

In September before the T20 World Cup, Kohli had already announced that he would be quitting as T20I skipper after the event, citing workload issues. He also mentioned his interest in continuing to lead India in ODI and Test formats.

Rohit began his tenure as full-time T20I captain on a strong note, sealing a 3-0 win against New Zealand in November. Kohli was rested for the series but returned for the ongoing Test matches.