A pity: Virat Kohlis childhood coach blasts BCCI for ODI captaincy axing

Rajkumar Sharma, Virat Kohli’s childhood
coach, is not pleased with BCCI’s decision to remove his pupil as the Indian
cricket team’s ODI captain. Rajkumar said Kohli had been a successful captain
in the ODI format and it was a “pity” that he was replaced. 34-year-old Rohit Sharma
will lead India in both T20Is and ODIs.

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“The selection committee doesn’t
provide a reason behind the decision. We don’t know what the management or the
BCCI or the selectors want. There’s no clarification, no transparency at all,”
Rajkumar Sharma said while speaking on the ‘Khelneeti’ podcast.

“It’s a pity how this has happened. He
has been such a successful one-day captain,” he said in the podcast.

Also Read: How Virat Kohli lost captaincy: A detailed timeline of events

Rajkumar, who works with budding
cricketers, also expressed his astonishment when he heard board president
Sourav Ganguly had said the BCCI had requested 33-year-old Kohli not to step down as a T20I
captain.

“I read Sourav Ganguly’s comments
recently that they had asked Kohli to not step down from T20I captaincy (before
the World Cup). I don’t recall anything like that. This statement came as a
surprise to me. There are different statements circulating around,”
Rajkumar Sharma said.

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‘Selectors were not straightforward in
their approach’

Rajkumar, however, has not yet spoken to
his former protégé, Kohli, since BCCI announced the change of ODI captaincy. But he
said the selectors should have been more straightforward in making the process
of changing the captain smoother as he had informed the selectors about his
decision to give up T20I captaincy in September.

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“I haven’t talked to him (Virat Kohli)
yet. His phone is switched off for some reason. But as far as my opinion is
concerned, he had specifically stepped down from T20 captaincy and the
selectors should’ve straightaway asked him to step down from both the
white-ball formats, or not step down at all,” he added.

Kohli will be seen leading India in Tests
during the upcoming South Africa series, starting December 26.