There can’t be 2 white-ball captains, says Ganguly

The BCCI on Wednesday named Rohit the captain of the ODI team heading into the 2023 World Cup in India and Ganguly opened up on the recent development, asserting that the incumbent was spoken to and duly accepted the decision.

“We had requested Virat not to step down as T20 captain, but he didn’t want to continue. So, the selectors felt that they cannot have two white-ball captains in two white-ball formats. That’s too much of leadership,” Ganguly told PTI.

Kohli stepped down as T20 captain after India’s disastrous World Cup campaign in the UAE in October-November. Ganguly said the selectors felt that multiple leaders in white-ball formats would lead to confusion and that is why the Chetan Sharma-led committee suggested that it would be better to have one captain.

“I don’t know (about the confusion) but that is what they (selectors) felt. That is how this conclusion was arrived at – let Rohit captain in white ball and let Virat be the red-ball skipper,” Ganguly added. But, was ex-skipper Kohli’s near 70 per cent win record in 95 ODI matches taken into consideration?

“Yes, we did consider that but if you look at Rohit’s record in whatever ODIs he has captained for India, it is very good. Bottom line is that there can’t be two white-ball captains,” said Ganguly.