Kohli's statements ill-timed, says Kapil Dev as controversy rages

Former captain of Indian cricket team Kapil Dev said that he feels Virat Kohli’s statements that exposed his differences with the BCCI on the issue of captaincy were ill-timed, as they created an unsavoury controversy just ahead of the crucial South Africa tour.

In the pre-departure press-conference in Mumbai on Wednesday, Kohli dismissed BCCI President Sourav Ganguly’s statement that the Board had requested him not to step down as T20I captain as “inaccurate”. The comment exposed the underlying tension between Kohli and the administrators, after he was removed as ODI skipper as well earlier this month.

“It is not good to point fingers on anybody at this point in time. The South Africa tour is coming and it’s advisable to pay attention to the tour,” Kapil told ABP News, when asked about Kohli’s remarks.

“I would say that the Board president is Board president, but yes the Indian cricket team captain is also a big thing. But talking badly about each other in public, I don’t think it is a good thing, whether it is Ganguly or Kohli,” Dev said.

The 62-year-old, who led India to the 1983 World Cup title, urged Kohli to take control of the situation and think about the country.

“Please control the situation, it would be better to think about the country now,” said the former skipper who played 134 Tests between 1978 and 1994, and took 434 wickets and made 5,248 runs.

“What is wrong will eventually come out, but I don’t think it is right to stoke a controversy before a tour,” Dev opined.

Also read: Why Kapil Dev believes Kohli should not have quit as T20 captain

The Indian Test team, led by Kohli, departed for South Africa on Thursday for a three-match series beginning at Centurion on December 26. After the Test series, India will also play three ODIs which will be captained by Rohit Sharma.

The BCCI has not yet reacted to Kohli’s comments.

The superstar batter had also stated that he was informed about the end of his ODI captaincy tenure, just hours before the selection of the Test team for South Africa earlier this month.

Kohli said that he could understand the reasons for that decision as the team had not won an ICC trophy under him, and he had also assured full support to new white-ball captain Rohit Sharma.

(With inputs from Agencies)