Sourav Ganguly breaks silence on Virat Kohli captaincy controversy: 'Only he can reveal why...'

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Sourav Ganguly has finally opened up on the controversy around Virat Kohli and his captaincy, saying that the BCCI was never prepared to see him quit as the captain of the Test team.

Notably, Kohli stepped down from the T20I captaincy after the T20 World Cup 2021 before the BCCI sacked him as the captain of the ODI team ahead of the South Africa tour. Following the Test series defeat in South Africa, the 34-year-old quit the Test captaincy and shocked everyone.

Rumours were rife that all was not good between Kohli and BCCi which had Sourav Ganguly at the helm back then. Kohli in the press conference ahead of the South Africa tour had also dismissed Ganguly's statement that he had personally reached out to Kohli and asked him to continue as the T20I captain.

Ganguly has finally broken his silence to an extent. He did not dive much into the controversy but reasserted his suggestion to Kohli. He also added that the BCCI wasn't prepared as Kohli decided to quit the Test captaincy.

"BCCI were not prepared for Virat Kohli leaving the Test captaincy. It was unexpected for us also after the South Africa tour. Only Virat Kohli can reveal why he left the captaincy. There is no point talking about this now because Virat Kohli left the Test captaincy. Selectors had to appoint an India captain. And Rohit was the best option at that time," Sourav Ganguly told Aaj Tak in an exclusive interview.

The comment from Ganguly comes after India lost the final of the World Test Championship 2021-23 against Australia by 209 runs. There have been calls on social media to reinstate Kohli as Team India's Test captain.