'Life turns a full circle' - Twitterati lash out as Kohli refutes Ganguly's claim on T20I captaincy

Bengaluru, Dec. 15: Indian cricket once again finds itself in the middle of a heated controversy. After the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shocked fans by naming Rohit Sharma as ODI captain on December 8th, Kohli's statement on Wednesday on being removed as ODI captain once again brought on a heated argument on social media.

After the team was announced, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had made a statement saying, he had requested Kohli to not step down as T20I skipper. But with Kohli refusing to do so, the board decided to remove him as ODI skipper as they did not want split captaincy. When Kohli had announced his decision to step down as T20I skipper prior to the T20 World Cup, the Indian captain had said he would continue to lead the side in the other two formats.

But his unceremonious removal as ODI skipper left fans fuming and furthermore Kohli's statement on Wednesday left Twitter divided. When asked about it, Kohli claimed he wasn't asked not to quit T20I captaincy and that contradicted Ganguly's statement.

During the pre-departure press conference ahead of the South Africa tour, Kohli said, "I was contacted one-and-a-half hour before the Test team selection. The chief selector (Chetan Sharma) discussed the Test team. And in the end, I was told that I won't be the captain and I said fine. There was no prior communication."

Kohli further added, "When I decided to leave the T20I captaincy and approached the BCCI about my decision, it was received well. There was no offence or hesitation, I wasn't told to reconsider it. It was received well; I was told it's progressive and it's in the right direction."

Kohli's statement sent Twitteratti into a frenzy as they lashed out against BCCI and criticised President Sourav Ganguly.