As India was knocked out of the 2021 T20 World Cup in the Super 12 round, Virat Kohli left captaincy in the format. The Indian ace had already announced the decision ahead of the tournament, but he was later also stripped of the ODI captaincy in December that year.

Kohli also stopped being India’s Test captain after India toured South Africa. As the captaincy was handed to Rohit Sharma, the rumour mill went abuzz, indicating the relationship between Kohli and the BCCI was not on good terms. However, BCCI treasurer Amul Singh Dhumal has come out claiming that Virat Kohli decided to not continue as the captain and the board had little role to play in it.

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“As far as the issue of captaincy is concerned, it was his call. He decided that mujhe ab nahi karni hai captaincy (that I don’t want to captain),” the BCCI treasurer told journalist Vimal Kumar on his YouTube channel.

The BCCI treasurer also said that the board decided to respect Kohli’s decision and would like to see him in action on the pitch instead.

“He wanted to quit, and it was purely his decision. And we (BCCI) respected it. He has contributed so much to Indian cricket that everyone in the cricket board respects him. We would like to see Virat in action on the ground,” he added.

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Kohli has fallen into a slump of form since he stopped being the Indian captain. In his last overseas tour, which came against England, Kohli did not score any half-century and was even dismissed for a duck.

Dhumal says that Kohli’s contribution to Indian cricket remains ‘unparalleled’ despite his recent slump. He also feels that recent rumours about the BCCI trying to sideline the former Indian captain are baseless and claimed the board wants him to return to form soon. However, the official said the team selections are purely the job of the selection committee, which takes all the decisions regarding it.

“As far as Virat is concerned, he is not a simple player. He is a great and his contribution to Indian cricket is unparalleled. It is outstanding,” he said.

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“Such conversations (that BCCI is trying to sideline Kohli) keep taking place in the media and it does not affect us. We want him to return to form soon, and as far as team selection is concerned, we leave it to the selectors. It is their call as to how they want to go about it,” he quipped.

Virat Kohli was rested when the BCCI announced the Indian squad for the ODI and T20I series against West Indies in July. However, he is also not part of the Indian squad’s tour of the West Indies but is expected to return at the Asia Cup 2022.