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After a below-par tour of Australia with only one century in the series, Virat Kohli was concerned about his place in the Indian ODI team for the Champions Trophy. He feared getting dropped from the one-day team and that led to doubts about his position in Test cricket also, sources told CricBlogger. Possibly to preempt any move by the team management to question his performance in the longer format of the game, Virat decided to hang up his boots and he did so without coming under any pressure from the team management, selectors, coach or the BCCI like former skipper and his teammate Rohit Sharma faced.
“Virat is the biggest star of the current generation of cricketers and he can’t be seen treated with disregard. If he did not score runs for India in England, the entire anti-Virat entourage would speak about his poor form and would even demand his Test retirement,” a top BCCI official said while adding that Virat has nothing more to prove in world cricket in any case.
Earlier, Virat endured a forgettable tour during the 2014 England series, but he bounced back impressively in the subsequent tours of 2018 and 2021. He was on the brink of becoming the only Indian captain to win Test matches in both Australia and England — a historic feat — until the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted those plans and halted the momentum.
However, it’s clear that chief selector Ajit Agarkar questioning Virat about his future plans in Australia — just minutes after coach Gautam Gambhir had offered him the captaincy — left a deep scar on the batter’s psyche. The timing of the conversation raised doubts in Virat’s mind about the stability and trust in the dressing room, particularly concerning the senior players. All those conversations also may have contributed in instilling a fear in Virat of being dropped from the Champions Trophy squad.
[…] “Virat is the biggest star of the current generation of cricketers, and he can’t be seen treated with disregard. If he did not score runs for India in England, the entire anti-Virat entourage would speak about his poor form and would even demand his Test retirement,” a top BCCI official told CricBlogger. […]
[…] “Virat is the biggest star of the current generation of cricketers, and he can’t be seen treated with disregard. If he did not score runs for India in England, the entire anti-Virat entourage would speak about his poor form and would even demand his Test retirement,” a top BCCI official told CricBlogger. […]
[…] “Virat is the biggest star of the current generation of cricketers, and he can’t be seen treated with disregard. If he did not score runs for India in England, the entire anti-Virat entourage would speak about his poor form and would even demand his Test retirement,” a top BCCI official told CricBlogger. […]