When Agarkar asked King Kohli about his ‘future plan’ in Gambhir’s presence!

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Hours after Virat Kohli’s superlative performance against arch-rivals Pakistan in the Champions Trophy match in Dubai on Sunday — it has come to light that chief selector Ajit Agarkar and coach Gautam Gambhir had wanted to know the star batter’s “future plan” during the fag end of the Australian tour when runs weren’t coming that freely, sources told CricBlogger. By asked such a question about his future plan, the selector and coach perhaps wanted clarity about Kohli’s preferences.

Apparently, Kohli was taken aback as he had been offered Test captaincy by Gambhir minutes before he was asked about his future plan by the chief selector in the presence of the Indian coach. “This incident happened right after India lost to Australia in the Melbourne Test and the team was getting ready for the fifth and final match in Sydney,” a source close to the team management said while adding that Agarkar was only doing his job as the chief selector to enquire about Kohli’s mindset.

However, Kohli’s match-winning century against Pakistan turned things around completely. Even the query about his future plan was suitably answered by King Kohli himself. With such a stellar knock, Kohli is surely here to stay and play till the next 2027 World Cup in South Africa, if not more and will continue to play Test cricket for India as well. “The selection committee must have got their answer to their question to Kohli,” the source said.

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Sources also said that after seeing Rohit struggling with his form in Test cricket during the Australian series, Gambhir had offered the captaincy to Kohli and even told him to get ready for the England tour. “Kohli didn’t react to the offer,” the source said. Later, Gambhir called in Kohli – in presence of Agarkar – and then he was asked about ‘his future plans’.

When CricBlogger tried to reach out to the board officials and selectors, none of them were available for comment.

Already, Gambhir and Rohit had got into an ugly spat over the latter’s form in red ball cricket. Gambhir also played a big role in dropping Rohit from the last Test of the Australian tour in Sydney, which Rohit termed, through his PR machinery, as a move to step down from the playing XI due to a series of low scores.

Sources said that Gambhir and some of the selectors are convinced that Rohit’s time is over in international cricket. By asking Kohli’s future plan, the selector and coach had also questioned his existence in the team in a way in the long run. At the end of it, big match means a big player and for India, that player is Virat Kohli.