Virat Kohli has given his side, now Sourav Ganguly needs to give his: Ravi Shastri

Former India coach says captaincy change could have been handled better with good communication.

• By: Express News Service
• Mumbai | Updated: December 23, 2021 10:15 PM IST
3 min read

Ravi Shastri is backing Royal Challengers Bangalore to make the playoffs of the ongoing IPL. (File)

Ravi Shastri has said that Virat Kohli has given his side of the story on his exit as India white-ball captain, and now BCCI president Sourav Ganguly needs to give his version.

Speaking at The Indian Express e.Adda, the former India head coach added that the captaincy change could have been handled better with “good communication.”

Days after Sourav Ganguly had said that he had personally told Virat Kohli not to give up the T20I captaincy, Kohli said that there had been no communication from the board once he had decided to relinquish leadership in the shortest format in September.

Regarding the ODI captaincy, Kohli said he had been informed that the selectors were removing him only 90 minutes before the selection committee meeting to pick the Test squad for the South Africa tour earlier this month.

“With good communication, this can be handled better,” Ravi Shastri said. “Virat has given his side of the story. It needs the board president to give his side of the story. It’s not about who’s lying and who’s not. It’s not right to jump into there until you know what was the actual conversation.”

Shastri added that once Kohli had decided he did not want to continue as T20I captain, there could have been only one leader for the two white-ball formats, where Rohit Sharma has now taken over.

My statement made Ashwin do something different: Shastri

R Ashwin had said recently that he felt “absolutely crushed” when Shastri stated after the Sydney Test in January 2019 that Kuldeep Yadav was India’s No.1 overseas spinner.

Shastri responded that he was happy if his statement had been able to goad Ashwin into becoming fitter. “The way Ashwin bowled in 2019 and the way he has bowled in 2021 is chalk and cheese,” Shastri said.

“If my statement on Kuldeep hurt Ashwin, I am glad I made that statement. It made him do something different. The message to Ashwin in 2018 was that he had to be fit. He has worked on that and look how he is bowling now. He’s world-class.”

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