Virat Kohli Latest Press Conference: Kohli said ” I was not told by anyone to not leave the T20 captaincy”
Virat Kohli Press Conference: Test team captain Virat Kohli and coach Rahul Dravid held a press conference in Mumbai a day before the Indian cricket team left for South Africa tour.
Kohli appeared in public and talked to the media for the first time since the captaincy controversy of Team India.
On 8 December, along with the announcement of the Indian Test team for the South Africa tour, it was also announced that Rohit Sharma was made the new captain by snatching the captaincy from Virat Kohli. Since then there was a controversy over this decision of BCCI.
Meanwhile, there was news of Rohit Sharma being out of the Test series due to injury and along with it some reports started claiming that Virat Kohli will not play in the ODI series on South Africa tour, as he has sought rest.
Controversy continues regarding this too and in the midst of all these controversies, Kohli addressed the first press conference.
Virat Kohli Press Conference Updates:
On ODI series – Virat Kohli has said that he will be available for the ODI series. Kohli has said that he was available for selection in the ODI series from the very beginning and the reports of him not playing were false.
Virat Kohli said that he had neither asked for any kind of rest nor talked to BCCI about it. Kohli said that many news were published about him in the past. But that too was proved wrong.
On being stripped of ODI captaincy – Virat Kohli has said that nothing was told about his removal from the captaincy. But he has no problem with the decision.
Kohli said, “I was contacted one and a half hours before the selection committee meeting. The Chief Selector discussed the Test team. Then before the meeting was over, I was told that I would not be the ODI captain and I said, ‘Okay’. But earlier no information was given.”
On Jadeja’s injury – We all know about Jadeja’s ability and he will be missed. But our bench strength is very good. We will definitely miss him, but I am sure it will not be the deciding factor (for the outcome of the series).
On Rohit’s injury – Indian team will miss Rohit’s experience in Test matches. Also, this is a chance for Mayank to show his experience.
On leaving the captaincy of T20-
BCCI President Sourav Ganguly recently said that he had asked Kohli not to leave the T20 captaincy, but Kohli has denied it. Kohli said, “When I spoke to the BCCI regarding the captaincy of T20, it was taken well. Its a progressive step.
I was never told not to give up the captaincy of T20. I had said then that I would like to continue as the captain of Test and ODI but if the officials feel that I should not take this responsibility, then I had also told this option to the BCCI at that time.
On the rift with Rohit – Kohli also clarified on the dispute with Rohit Sharma. Kohli said, “There is nothing between me and Rohit. I am tired of saying all this for two and a half years. Whatever I want or do, it will not be to bring the team down. There is no problem between me and Rohit.
On his captaincy- Regarding his captaincy of Team India in all three formats, Kohli said, “I have always felt proud to captain India. I gave my best. My motivation to do well will never diminish. One thing I will say about the captaincy is that I have been absolutely honest about this work. The batting will never go away.”
On South Africa Test Series –
On the challenge of Test series against South Africa, Captain Kohli said, “We started from South Africa, from where we felt that we can win anywhere.
South Africa is a different kind of challenge. You have to give your best to do well. With our experience, we are handling these challenges well. We can do something special this time.”
