Virat Kohli must focus on South Africa tour: Kapil Dev on BCCI-Kohli rift

Kapil Dev, the 1983 World Cup-winning
captain of India, said Virat Kohli’s statements that exposed his difference
with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after he lost ODI
captaincy were mistimed as they created a distasteful controversy just ahead of
India’s tour of South Africa. Kohli had announced in September that he would step
down from T20I captaincy after the T20 World Cup in the UAE which ended in
November.

Also Read: ‘Was contacted by BCCI at the last moment’: Virat Kohli on losing ODI captaincy

On Wednesday, on the eve of the Indian
team’s departure for the Test series in South Africa, Kohli contradicted board president Sourav
Ganguly’s statement. Dismissing an “inaccurate” Ganguly’s statement,
Kohli said that the board had contacted him just an hour before the Test squad
announcement and he was told that ODI captaincy would be handed over to Rohit
Sharma. The comment exposed the underlying tension between Kohli and the BCCI
officials after he was removed as ODI skipper earlier this month.

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

“I would say 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 Sourav or Kohli.”

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‘Think about the country now’

Kapil Dev urged Kohli to take control of
the situation and think about cricket rather than controversies.

“Aap situation ko control kijiye,
behtar ye hai ki aap desh ke baare mein sochiye (Please control the situation
and it’s better to think about the country now),” said the former skipper,
who played 134 Tests between 1978 and 1994 and took 434 wickets and scored 5248
runs.

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“Jo galat hai woh kal pata chal hi
jayega but I don’t think it is right to stoke a controversy before a
tour,” he opined.

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

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