Ex-PAK Captain Blames BCCI For Virat Kohli’s Decision To Quit As India’s Test Captain

The former Pakistan skipper felt that BCCI created an environment step by step forcing Virat Kohli to relinquish his role in the longest format of the game.

New Delhi: Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt claimed that Virat Kohli’s quitting as India’s Test captain shouldn’t have happened. Butt also took a dig at BCCI, stating that the Indian board created a situation for Kohli step by step which forced Kohli to relinquish his role in 2022.

Kohli first left captaincy in 2021 when he decided to step down from India’s T20I leadership role after the World Cup in Dubai. He was then removed as India’s ODI captain too as the BCCI wanted a single skipper for the white-ball format.

Kohli’s decision to step down as India’s Test captain came in after his team lost to South Africa in January 2022, leaving his fans shell shocked. Butt felt Kohli’s stepping down as India captain was a result of miscommunication between a player and the management.

“Kohli was a successful captain, and the way he was being removed step by step… he himself gave it away. I’ve read many comments claiming that Kohli himself stepped down from captaincy and wasn’t removed,” Butt explained on his YouTube channel during a Q&A session.

“Listen, brother… they (the board) created the build-up. Didn’t he say in the press conference that there was no communication with me? You can watch the PC if you haven’t,” added the former southpaw.

“It comes down to these things when the player knows it was done deliberately. The professional he is, and the captain that he was, I still don’t think he should’ve been removed,” said Butt, who was banned by the ICC for 10 years in 2011 for match-fixing in England.

Following Kohli’s decision, the BCCI named Rohit Sharma as the captain of India in all three formats. Under Rohit, India are yet to win a major ICC trophy — India lost to England in T20 World Cup 2022 and suffered defeat against Australia in WTC final 2023.

Rohit’s next big assignment will be the Asia Cup 2023 that starts in Pakistan and Sri Lanka from August 31 and the 2023 ODI World Cup in October-November at home.