New Delhi. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly said that Virat Kohli’s decision to step down as Team India’s Test captain is ‘personal’. Ganguly’s remarks came after Kohli stepped down as India’s Test captain after leading the team for seven years. The BCCI president also said that the board respects Kohli’s decision. Under Kohli’s leadership, India won 40 out of 68 Tests.
Ganguly tweeted, “Under the leadership of Virat, Indian cricket has made rapid progress in all forms of the game. His decision is personal and BCCI respects it very much. He will be a vital member to take this team to new heights in future. A great player.’ Kohli’s decision to step down as Test captain came a day after India lost the three-match Test series against South Africa on Friday. Last year, Kohli had stepped down from T20 captaincy and then was dropped from ODI captaincy as the selectors wanted a captain in limited overs cricket.
Kohli is India’s most successful Test captain, while MS Dhoni is second with 27 wins from 60 matches and Ganguly is third with 21 wins. Kohli is fourth in the list of captains with most wins in Test cricket after South Africa’s Graeme Smith (53) and Ricky Ponting (48) and Steve Waugh (41). Kohli was given the reins of the Test team in 2014, when Dhoni stepped down in the middle of the series against Australia.
Kohli’s decision to step down from Test captaincy comes amid his strained relationship with the BCCI. A major controversy erupted when Virat Kohli said in a press conference before leaving for South Africa that he was not asked by anyone to continue as T20 captain, contrary to Ganguly’s claim. After being removed from the captaincy of ODIs, Ganguly had said that Virat had been advised not to leave the T20 captaincy.
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