Kapil Dev and Gavaskar have come to Ganguly’s support against Kohli

The controversies, turmoil, and rifts among a few members of Indian Cricket and BCCI do not seem to end very soon. Reportedly, the controversy began after Virat Kohli had decided to shed his responsibility of being a captain of the Indian T20 team. As the handing over of captaincy has created factions, one of them led by Virat Kohli and the other one being Sourav Ganguly’s, almost every other former Indian Cricket player has begun supporting the latter against Kohli.

Kapil Dev criticizes Kohli

World Cup-winning former Indian skipper Kapil Dev gave his remarks on the controversy over India’s white-ball captaincy. Slamming Kohli, Kapil Dev stated, “It is not good to point fingers on anybody at this point in time. The South Africa tour is coming and please pay attention to the tour.”

He further added that “Kohli speaking publicly on the captaincy issue and highlighting differences with board president Sourav Ganguly isn’t good. You have to control the situation and it would be better to think about the country first. Whatever is wrong will be known soon but speaking publicly about the topic, I think, is wrong at this time. I would not want to see any controversy ahead of an important tour.”

Sunil Gavaskar came out in support of Ganguly Dada

Sunil Gavaskar also issued a statement on the removal of Virat Kohli as captain. He asserted, “What is the controversy here. As long as the chairman of selectors had told him clearly that we are not considering you for ODI captaincy now, that’s perfectly fine. It is the selectors who have complete authority in selection committee meetings. The captain is just a co-opted non-voting member.”

According to Gavaskar, Virat Kohli’s initial statement when he announced that he would step down as India’s T20I captain, could be the reason why he was sacked as the captain. He noted, “If I remember correctly it said ‘I will continue to lead India in Test and ODIs’. I think that line could have been changed to I would be available to lead India in Test and ODIs.”

“The presumptions he would be the captain for Test and ODIs could have been one of the reasons why, there was this little anti-feeling against him,” he added.

#NationStandsWithDada trends on Twitter

Soon after Virat Kohli and Sourav Ganguly took the cricket world by storm with their contradicting statements, #NationStandsWithDada began trending on Twitter to support Ganguly. Ganguly, who’s hailed as one of the finest Indian skippers ever as he laid the foundation of India’s current success and giant status on the global cricketing map, is being backed by his fans on Twitter.

Read more: Sourav Ganguly: The man who inherited a ‘scandal’-ised team and turned it into a team of champions

A twitter user Maniraj Ganguly also raised his voice in support of Sourav Ganguly. He tweeted, “The Man Who Changed the Face and Shape of Indian Cricket The Leader who formed team like Sehwag, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Zaheer and Harbhajan As Bcci President: Made Dravid as Coach, Laxman as NCA Chief and Rohit as Captain for Limited Overs #NationStandsWithDada @SGanguly99 @BCCI.”

Another user named Kranthi Reddy also wrote, “#NationStandsWithDada Legends this generation kids only know trolling they are nibbas.”

Supporting Dada, another user named SM tweeted, “Other captains have won matches for india Dada has teached india how to win If you are king of aggression than dada is God Abusing him just because he ended kohli monopoly and treating everyone equally What a disgrace is this kohli 14-15 old fan base is #NationStandsWithDada.”

Kohli and Ganguly’s contradicting statements:

For the unversed, the Indian cricket team’s selectors made a shocking announcement on 8th December 2021. While declaring the Indian team for their upcoming tour of South Africa, selectors officially announced the dethroning of Virat Kohli from the captaincy of the Indian limited-overs team. With the announcement, Kohli’s rule is now limited to only Test Cricket.

Read more: Naming and Shaming Sourav Ganguly – Fans of Virat Kohli hit a new low

Ganguly later claimed that “Though he had asked Kohli to not step down as T20I skipper, the 33-year-old didn’t agree to do so. Thus, the selectors and officials had to take this major call. He further added, “Obviously, he felt the workload. Which is fine, he has been a great cricketer, he has been very intense with his cricket. He has captained for a long period of time and these things happen.”

In a shocking turn of events, Kohli refuted the claims. He, contrary to what Ganguly had claimed, stated, “When I approached BCCI about the T20 captaincy, it was received well by them and I was not told to not leave the T20 captaincy.  I was contacted 1.5 hours before selection committee meet. The chief selector discussed the Test team. Before ending the call the selectors told me I won’t be ODI captain and I was fine. There was no prior communication.”

It is pertinent to note that after Sourav Ganguly took charge of Indian cricket, he roped in Rahul Dravid to change the team’s environment and culture. From then on, they have replaced the legacy of Kohli and Shastri and have brought in some massive changes which obviously don’t bode well for Kohli.

And now, with the factions created in the aftermath of the rift between Sourav Ganguly and Virat Kohli, it is quite obvious that the netizens, BCCI members and almost every other former player of the Indian Cricket Team will stand by Ganguly’s side. And that is because Ganguly has earned it through his contribution to Indian cricket.