Former India captain Sourav Ganguly, on Wednesday, said as the leader of the team, Virat Kohli has got every right to voice his opinion in the coach selection process. Ganguly’s statement came days after Kohli was criticised for preferring Ravi Shastri as the Indian coach.
In his first media interaction after India’s World Cup semi-final exit, Kohli backed Ravi Shastri to continue as India head coach after his extended tenure ends with the tour of the West Indies beginning 3 August.
Backing Kohli, Ganguly said, “He is the captain. He has got every right to say.”
Notably, Ganguly was part of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) which picked Shastri as the head coach in 2017. The other members were Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman.
This time the CAC comprising Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad and Shantha Rangaswamy will pick the coach. The application deadline ended on Tuesday and incumbent Shastri gets an automatic entry in the selection process.
The Kapil-led committee had also picked the Indian women’s coach, WV Raman, in December. Gaekwad had, however, said they would not be prejudiced in appointing the new coach.
“See, whatever (Virat) Kohli or (Ravi) Shastri may say, we have to adhere to BCCI. He was asked about his preference (at the press conference) and Kohli gave his preference for Ravi Shastri. We have nothing to do with that. We are neutral and we would go with an open mind,” said Gaekwad.
Meanwhile, Ganguly refused to comment on Gaekwad’s statements, saying: “Every individual is different so I cannot comment.”
(With inputs from PTI)