Unceremonious exit of Virat Kohli – A giant leap in reverse direction

Being captain of Indian cricket team has always been a perilous job. You surely get huge power & authority when you are in the job, but you can be dumped just like that. People following cricket for long would know that as a matter of fact, but the Dhoni era and Kohli era, somehow made us feel that Indian cricket has outgrown that era of politics, mismanagement and sackings. The respect and pride of India as a cricketing nation was only growing.

Statistically, Kohli has been India’s most successful skipper in the one-dayers. He led India in 95 games, winning 65 and losing 27 matches. That’s the most by any Indian skipper. He also steered India to the final of the 2017 Champions Trophy, where they lost to arch rival Pakistan, and the semifinal of the 2019 World Cup, which they lost to New Zealand.

In the current scenario there is plenty of intrigue. BCCI has ultimately sacked statistically one of the most successful skipper in ODI cricket, a super fit 33-year-old guy, who had openly made it public his wish to keep leading India in ODIs, during his address on giving up T20I leadership almost 3 months back. 

The ODI reign is not being handed over to any youngster to prepare him for the future, and the change is unlike Dhoni to Kohli transition which happened keeping long term future in mind. 

In this case the change is not being made with any long-term approach, in reality, the new captain is a year-and-a-half older than Kohli, and I am not even bringing the fitness in picture.

It is tough to think of an Indian skipper who got full-time captaincy that too for the first time at the age of 34-and-a-half. The last time and probably the only time it happened in past, and that was Anil Kumble who was made captain at the age of 37, but he was simply a stop-gap arrangement between Dravid and Dhoni era.

It was the golden era of Indian cricket, as the success we had in leadership of Dhoni was unbelievable, and the same continued in Kohli’s leadership wherein India won five matches for every two they lost and the team reached to the final and the semi-final of the two ICC events they participated in.

The last time any Indian skipper was sacked from limited over cricket, it was Saurav Ganguly in 2005 under Coach Chappell. Interestingly, Head Coach Dravid was also part of that instance and he was the one who replaced Ganguly as captain.

Unfortunately, we are not living in 2005. It is the age of social media and technology where information travels at the speed of light. The youngsters following the game and idolising their heroes get every update on their smartphones at the drop of the hat.

The phenomenon of cricket in India is bigger than we can imagine. Such decisions and treatment is bigger than winning or losing any event or series.  Whether it’s youngsters aspiring to play cricket or the fans, everyone wants their heroes to be treated well. 

What kind of example we are setting with this in front of aspiring cricketers? 

Remember when Dhoni was playing for Pune in IPL and Steve Smith replaced him as captain, the backlash by the fans was unimaginable. 

I understand we are resource heavy nation, in terms of having the problem of plenty to select the quality talent from every state. But that doesn’t give us a license to disrespect the talent and to take this inflow of talent for granted.

I can understand there must have been some disagreements in terms of leading the ODI team, and there can be ‘n’ number of practical issues, however, I fail to understand the inability of BCCI to manage it properly. Creating such a mess out of this situation is completely deplorable. 

In all circumstances, Virat Kohli deserves a lot more respect and at least dignified exit than the treatment he’s getting.

It’s not for any individual, it is needed for the future of Indian Cricket.