The ongoing animosity between Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli and former BCCI President Sourav Ganguly seems to be far from over, as the two have continued to display their dislike for each other in public. After Kohli recently unfollowed Ganguly on Instagram, the former India captain returned the favor, making it clear that he is not happy with the ex Indian skipper.
The strained relationship between the two was evident during the Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Delhi Capitals match on April 15, where Kohli was spotted giving a death stare to Ganguly, who is currently serving as the Director of Cricket at DC. Several other moments from the match also went viral, where both Ganguly and Kohli were seen avoiding each other, including not shaking hands after the game.
The current cold relations between Ganguly and Kohli started during Ganguly’s tenure as BCCI President in 2021. There were rumors of a change in Indian captaincy, and Kohli eventually stepped down as T20I captain ahead of the T20 World Cup 2021. However, he made it clear in his statement that he would continue to lead India in ODIs and Tests.
But to everyone’s surprise, BCCI appointed Rohit Sharma as the captain of the ODI team before the tour of South Africa, with no statement coming from Kohli. According to reports, BCCI didn’t want split captaincy for both limited-overs formats, and Ganguly even claimed in an interview that he had asked Kohli not to step down from the T20I captaincy.
However, during a press conference, Kohli denied Ganguly’s claims and said that no one had asked him to continue in his position. The star batsman even stepped down from the Test captaincy a month later to reportedly express his frustration with the Board and the entire world.
This entire dispute took place during a period when Kohli was struggling to score runs across formats. However, the star batter made a remarkable comeback since Asia Cup 2022 and ended his century drought across formats.
Despite finding his rhythm back, Kohli seems to have not forgotten the treatment meted out to him by Ganguly, and still holds grudges against the former India cricketer. The ongoing tension between the two has not gone unnoticed, and it remains to be seen whether they will be able to patch things up in the future.
It’s worth noting that both Kohli and Ganguly are regarded as two of India’s greatest cricketing icons and have played significant roles in shaping Indian cricket. However, their personal differences have become a topic of interest for cricket fans and media alike, and it remains to be seen whether this conflict will have any impact on Indian cricket in the future.
As of now, the Indian cricket team is preparing for the upcoming T20 World Cup, and it remains to be seen how Kohli and Ganguly will interact with each other during the tournament, and whether they will be able to put their differences aside for the sake of the team’s success.
