Rohit Sharma was touted to break the streak for India, but the results were the same the 2022 T20 World Cup. Following the show in Australia, former Pakistan captain Salman Butt took a brutal dig at BCCI for sacking Kohli as the captain.
12 months back, Virat Kohli was removed as the ODI captain of the Indian team shortly after he had relinquished his leadership role in T20I cricket. Among the few criticisms he had faced then or during is tenure was the lack of or no ICC trophies for India. The team only managed to reach one ICC tournament final during his time. Rohit Sharma was touted to break the streak for India, but the results were the same the 2022 T20 World Cup. Following the show in Australia, former Pakistan captain Salman Butt took a brutal dig at BCCI for sacking Kohli as the captain.
Kohli had stepped down form his role as T20I captain after India suffered a forgettable group-stage exit in the 2021 T20 World Cup. He was subsequently removed from ODI captaincy which led to a huge controversy between him and the BCCI administrators, which included then president Sourav Ganguly and former chairman of selectors, Chetan Sharma.
Rohit, who had won five IPL trophies as a captain, was made the new white-ball skipper and was backed to lead India to a title haul in the 2022 T20 World Cup. However, India suffered a crushing 10-wicket loss to eventual champions England in the semis.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Butt slammed BCCI for their call on Kohli, saying that there was no valid reason for removing him as skipper.
“When had they sacked Kohli? There was no valid reason for that. The reason was that he did not win an ICC trophy. How many captains have actually won the ICC trophy? Many have spent their entire career without it. Ab jeet liye (Have they won it now)? He was a quality captain. He wasn’t the only reason why the team had lost. It is not that the team has drastically improved now. If it was all about winning then it’s not that Dhoni can’t play in the T20s. And how can you can for T20 World Cup? The format itself is so fickle and World Cups are happening so frequently and then you have various leagues going on in between. And above that if you have someone who is fit, ready to go and can lead you tactically then why not? Grooming can happen in bigger formats as well. But again it’s all about their mindset,” he said.
