Kirmani on Kohli-Ganguly tiff: Important to have harmony

Former India wicketkeeper-batter Syed Kirmani on Sunday said that harmony should be displayed by both Virat Kohli and the BCCI top management to end whatever issues have surfaced ever since the removal of Kohli as ODI skipper.

Rohit Sharma replaced Kohli as the ODI skipper and since then, there have been different versions put forward by Kohli and BCCI President Sourav Ganguly which have led to severe speculation among fans and pundits.

"It is important to have harmony among one another, it is important to communicate before you take an important decision. Egos play a very big role in an individual's life. That should not be there, Kohli is a powerful player. The selection committee and BCCI President have their power, it is important to have harmony to sort out all the issues," Kirmani told ANI.

A day after Kohli was removed as the ODI captain, BCCI President Ganguly had told ANI that he had indeed spoken to Virat regarding the leadership change adding that he had requested Virat to also not give up the T20I captaincy.

"It's a call that the BCCI and the selectors took together. Actually, the BCCI had requested Virat to not step down as the T20I skipper but obviously, he did not agree. And the selectors then did not feel it right to have two different captains for two white-ball formats," Ganguly had told ANI.

"So it was decided that Virat will continue as Test captain and Rohit will take over as the white-ball captain. I as President personally spoke to Virat Kohliand the chairman of selectors has also spoken to him," the BCCI president had added.

However, Virat Kohli held a press conference and contradicted Ganguly, saying he was never asked to leave the T20I captaincy.

"Whatever was said about the communication that happened during the decision that was made was inaccurate. I was contacted one-and-a-half hours before the selection meeting on 8th for the Test series," said Kohli while replying to a query from ANI during a virtual press conference.

(ANI)

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