New Delhi 16/12: Former World Cup-winning India captain Kapil Dev believes that Virat Kohli’s statement, highlighting differences with the BCCI on the issue of captaincy, has come at the wrong time. This created unnecessary controversy before the important tour of South Africa (India vs South Africa). In a press conference in Mumbai ahead of his departure for South Africa, Kohli rubbished BCCI President Sourav Ganguly’s statement that the board had asked him not to step down as the captain of the T20 team. With this statement, the tension between Kohli and BCCI (Virat vs BCCI) has become well known.
Kapil said, “It is not right to point fingers at anyone at this time. The tour of South Africa is ahead and attention should be given to it. I would say that the board president is the board president, although being the captain of the Indian team is also a big deal. It’s not good to speak badly about each other though. Be it Sourav or Kohli.” Kapil, who led India to the 1983 World Cup, appealed to Virat Kohli to control the situation and think about the country.
He said, “You control the situation. It is better that you think about the country. What is wrong will be known but it is not right to create controversy before a tour. After that a series of three ODIs will also be played. The BCCI is yet to react to Kohli’s statement.