Salman Butt: “When they sacked Kohli, they didn’t have a valid reason.”
Earlier this week, the BCCI fired Chetan Sharma’s selection panel following India’s dismal performance in the just ended T20 World Cup. The board has now requested applications for new selectors, with the deadline for submissions set for November 28.
Salman Butt said that the recently dismissed selection committee made numerous wrong decisions, including dismissing Kohli as ODI captain, and that Team India had not progressed much despite the changes.
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) November 22, 2022
Butt also questioned how many outstanding captains have won the ICC trophy, as well as why MS Dhoni was not given the chance to lead the team when winning significant trophies.
“What was the reason for not having an out and out fast bowler for the T20 World Cup, when you are playing in Australia, where you have to play in Perth and Melbourne. Even when they sacked Kohli, they didn’t have a valid reason. They said that he did not win an ICC trophy. How many captains have won an ICC trophy? A lot of players finish their career despite not winning a trophy,” Butt said in a video uploaded on Youtube.
☀️😊 pic.twitter.com/vMDmuWUF0Q
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) November 20, 2022
“So, did they win a trophy now? He was a quality captain. He wasn’t the only reason why they failed to win a trophy. The team hasn’t improved that much either since then,” he continued.
The veteran batsman questioned why the BCCI did not select Dhoni as India’s captain, at least in T20I cricket, if winning the ICC trophy was so important.
He said, “If it was all about winning, and you needed a winning captain, it’s not like MS Dhoni couldn’t have played in T20Is. He is still fit. When he was there as a mentor during the T20 World Cup in UAE, only Kohli was as at fit as him. Visibly, no one looked fitter than him. I don’t know what was the planning behind it. T20 cricket is being played so frequently. There’s a World Cup in every two years, and there are franchise leagues as well. When you have someone who is fit, performing and ready to go, and especially when the player can lead the team tactically, then why not Dhoni.”
The former Pakistan captain also criticized the BCCI and selectors for Kohli’s struggles with the bat, claiming that replacing him as captain caused him mental anguish.
“Virat Kohli was doing a great job, it was unfortunate that he did not win an ICC title. But the think-tank could have thought about what were the reasons for not winning? It was not like if you remove Virat Kohli, everything will be taken care of. The drastic change resulted in Virat Kohli’s poor form, I am sure he would have suffered mentally. The rest of the guys have thought that if such a thing can happen to that person who has performed, so what will happen with us. Then the rest of the guys also get insecure about their spot within the team,” Butt concluded.
