‘I don't think we need a needless controversy’ – Virat Kohli’s childhood coach speaks on captaincy saga

Ever since Virat Kohli left the captaincy of the Indian T20I team, things are not going smooth between him and BCCI. On Wednesday, Kohli revealed several things concerning the captaincy saga. Kohli said that he would be available for the ODIs against South Africa and noted that he had no problems with the appointment of Rohit Sharma as the new ODI captain.

Kohli also clarified that no one from BCCI asked him not to step down from the captaincy position in October. Saurav Ganguly, BCCI’s president, told spoke last week that he requested Kohli not to resign from his position.

With both sides telling two different stories, it has become difficult for Indian cricket fans to believe in either of them. Kohli’s revelation has sparked a new controversy in Indian cricket. Kohli’s childhood coach, Rajkumar Sharma, gave his views on this issue on the Khelneeti podcast. He mentioned that things would have been better if both sides avoided using “strong words.”

“I don’t want to speak much on the subject because it’s directly linked with Virat. But I feel that it could’ve been better if such strong words weren’t used from both sides. The team is doing good, I don’t think we need a needless controversy,” Sharma said.

Virat Kohli is not greedy for anything: Rajkumar Sharma

Sharma further mentioned that the controversy would not affect Kohli’s game when he leads the Indian team in the first Test against South Africa on December 26.

“It might be in the back of his mind, but once he steps on the ground, I don’t think it would impact him. Virat is not greedy for anything, he has a lot of self-belief and he knows he will give his 100 percent. It’s obviously a little disturbing for any player when such conflicts or controversy happens. But I’m hopeful that the board will be tackling this situation efficiently and it won’t be dragged further,” Sharma mentioned.

The Indian team is yet to win a Test series in South Africa. The Indian squad under the new coach Rahul Dravid might be able to create history on this tour. India lost the last series by a 2-1 margin.