Virat Kohli's captaincy has been the talk of the town in the cricketing fraternity for quite some time. Under him, India remains a potent force across formats and have excelled in bilateral series. While they have also performed well in ICC events, the 32-year-old hasn't led India to a major title ever since he took over as the full-time captain in early 2017.
Nonetheless, Kohli's captaincy has been under the scanner following India's ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final loss to New Zealand, in mid-2021. While India came back strongly in the preceding England Tests, with a 2-1 unassailable lead in the five Tests before the series came to an abrupt end, there are reports doing the rounds that some senior Indian cricketers have complained about Kohli to the BCCI.
As of now, nothing concrete has emerged out. A report in the New Indian Express mentions that Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara reportedly called up the BCCI secretary Jay Shah following Kohli's post-match comments after the WTC final loss. Back then, Kohli had stated, "If you don't put their bowlers under pressure then they have the fitness and the consistency to bowl long spells and keep bowling all day in the same areas and trouble you, and the more momentum you give them, then invariably they get the breakthroughs they want. The mindset has to be to score runs and find ways to score runs. You can't be too worried about getting out because you are [then] bringing the bowler into the game completely."
In the WTC final, India had fell like nine pins in their second essay -- with Pujara and Rahane perishing for 15 apiece. Hence, it might be the case that Kohli's comments didn't go down well with the two Test specialists. Another Test specialist R Ashwin's name has also cropped up in this matter. As per a report in News18, it is the wily off-spinner who reportedly had a call with the BCCI secretary over Kohli's attitude.
Again, these are all speculations at the moment. However if it turns out to be true, Kohli might also lose out on Test captaincy whereas his ODI leadership skills will be scrutinised after India's performance in the forthcoming T20 World Cup, which will be the superstar cricketer's last assignment as the captain in the shortest format.
(With inputs from agencies)