Earlier this week, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had announced its decision to name Rohit Sharma as the new ODI captain instead of Kohli.
The Indian opener Sharma replaced Virat Kohli as the full-time captain in the white-ball format, having succeeded the 33-year-old in T20Is last month. The announcement received a mixed reaction from fans as well as the cricket fraternity. This happened largely due to its suddenness.
Furthermore, it was Kohli who had confirmed his decision to step down as T20I captain ahead of the World Cup. However, he had insisted that he would be looking forward to leading the team in ODIs and Tests.
The BCCI President on Thursday explained the “bottom line” for the decision. He said that there couldn’t be two captains for two different white-ball formats.
Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt had backed BCCI’s decision to have one captain for ODIs and T20Is. However, he insisted that the whole process could’ve been handled better.
“BCCI didn’t want Kohli to step down (before T20 WC). But it doesn’t make much sense for white-ball formats to have two different captains. It would’ve been better if there was no aggrieved party in this situation, though,” Butt said on his official YouTube channel.
“The reports came across after the announcement that Kohli was given two days to step down and while this shows how much authority they have, you have to look at what he has done for his country. It should’ve been more respectful. You have your cricket board on one side, and one of the best players in the world at the other,” Butt said.
The former Pakistan skipper, however, reiterated that BCCI was right. They were right in following the current norm of having two different captains for Tests and white-ball formats.
“Anyway, whatever happened, in the end, makes sense because you shouldn’t have two captains for different white-ball formats,” said Butt.
“Joe Root plays one-dayers for England but their captain remains (Eoin) Morgan.
Similarly in Australia, Aaron Finch leads them in ODIs and T20Is and Cummins is the captain of the Test team. This is despite the latter playing all formats.”
