‘Pathetic’: Angry fans want Ganguly to 'resign' after Kohli's press conference

Indian captain Virat Kohli stated on Wednesday that he wasn't asked to "not leave the T20I captaincy" when he had decided to step down from the leadership role in October. Kohli announced his decision to leave captaincy in the shortest format ahead of the 2021 T20 World Cup, and he was eventually succeeded by Rohit Sharma – who also took over the ODI captaincy last week.

Kohli's remarks over his communication with the BCCI come roughly a week after BCCI President Sourav Ganguly had said that he had "requested" then-captain to not leave the leadership role.

"I communicated to the BCCI when I left the T20 captaincy. I shared my point of view and the reasons behind taking that decision, and it was received very well. There was no hesitation. I wasn't asked to not leave the T20I captaincy; instead, it was considered a progressive step and that it was in the right direction," Kohli said in a press conference ahead of the side's departure to South Africa, where the side is scheduled to play three Tests and as many ODIs.

"I had further told them that I will continue to lead in ODIs and Tests, unless office-bearers and selectors feel that I shouldn't continue the responsibility. So, my communication had been very clear. If the selectors and office-bearers felt that I shouldn't continue as captain, that decision entirely lies in their hands."

Earlier, Ganguly had said that Kohli "did not agree" to the board's requests of not stepping down from T20I captaincy.

"It's a call that the BCCI and the selectors took together," Ganguly told ANI.

"Actually, the BCCI had requested Virat to not step down as the T20I skipper but obviously, he did not agree. And the selectors then did not feel it right to have two different captains for two white-ball formats."

As Kohli's comments seemingly portray complete disarray in communication between the board and Kohli, fans on Twitter criticised BCCI President Sourav Ganguly.