'Nobody is Abusing Me, Everyone Has Forgotten...': Sourav Ganguly's Reminder on Rohit Sharma Replacing Virat Kohli as India Captain

Ahead of the 2021 T20 World Cup, Virat Kohli made a surprising announcement about him stepping down as India captain from T20Is. Kohli explained the decision was vital to manage his workload as an all-format player.

India would exit from the competition in the first round itself with three wins and two defeats including against Pakistan and New Zealand. More surprise was in store for Indian cricket in the months that followed the T20I showpiece with Kohli quitting ODI and Test captaincy too.

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There was an explosive press interaction in between where Kohli claimed he was informed 90 minutes before the team selection meeting of 2021-22 tour of South Africa that he’s being replaced as ODI captain. He would flatly reject BCCI claim that the batting superstar was informed about the decision much before.

In January 2022, Kohli stepped down as India Test captain after they lost the series in South Africa and Sourav Ganguly, the then BCCI president, faced the heat on social media for the manner in which the succession was handled with few even blaming him for forcing Kohli to step away.

That phase now seems a memory of a distant past with India becoming the T20 World Cup champions under Rohit Sharma who replaced Kohli as the captain across formats.

Ganguly has recalled the time when he was being criticised for appointing Rohit as captain. “When I handed Rohit Sharma the captaincy of the Indian team, everyone criticised me,” the former India captain told AajKal.

“Now that India has won the T20 World Cup under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, everyone has stopped abusing me for it. In fact, I think everyone has forgotten that it was I who appointed him as the captain of the Indian team,” he added.

The team is now bracing for another transition period with both Rohit and Kohli retiring from T20Is as new head coach Gautam Gambhir charts the future course of action.

Rohit and Kohli though will continue playing Tests and ODIs with BCCI secretary Jay Shah recently confirming that the seniors will be part of next year’s Champions Trophy. He eventually announced Rohit will remain captain for the ongoing World Test championship cycle and the Champions Trophy.