"Ganguly never liked Virat Kohli"- 5 shocking disclosures made by Chetan Sharma in sting operation
BCCI's chief selector Chetan Sharma has grabbed the headlines after Zee News' sting operation on him. The head of the Indian men's cricket team's selection committee made several shocking revelations about what happens behind the doors in Indian cricket.
Chetan Sharma shared unknown details about the controversy involving former Indian captain Virat Kohli and the then BCCI President Sourav Ganguly in late 2021. The chief selector also disclosed how some unfit players use injections to attain fitness and play as many matches as they can.
In this listicle now, we will look at the top five revelations made by Chetan Sharma in the sting operation.
#1 Chetan Sharma explains why BCCI changed captain in 2021
Virat Kohli was India's all-format captain in 2021. However, before the T20 World Cup 2021, he announced that he would step down as T20I captain after the mega event ends. Surprisingly, the BCCI sacked him as the ODI skipper as well ahead of the next series against South Africa.
BCCI added a line in the press release while announcing the squads that Rohit Sharma was the team's new ODI captain. Explaining why the BCCI changed the skipper, Chetan Sharma said:
"Ganguly did not favour Rohit but he never liked Virat. You can put it in this way."
#2 The secret of Team India's injections
Chetan Sharma said, "some Indian superstar players take injections to be 100% match ready. Those injections don't get caught in dope test". (Sting operation by Zee).
Injury issues have hurt India's performance in international cricket. According to the current chief selector, a few 'superstar' players of the Indian team use injections to get 100% match ready. He mentioned that the players have perfect knowledge of dope tests.
"Some Indian superstar players take injections to be 100% match ready. Those injections don't get caught in dope test," said Sharma.
#3 What exactly happened in the meeting between Virat Kohli and BCCI officials?
As mentioned above, the BCCI changed the ODI captain in 2021 even when Virat Kohli never expressed his desire to leave the position. Kohli later revealed in an explosive press conference before the South Africa tour that the BCCI informed him just an hour and a half before sacking him as the ODI captain.
Sharing some details about what exactly happened in the meeting, Chetan Sharma said:
“Virat Kohli felt he lost the captaincy because of BCCI President. There were 9 people in the selection committee video conference, Ganguly may have told him ‘think about it once’. I think Kohli didn’t hear it, there were 9 others there including myself and all other selectors, BCCI officials – Kohli might not have heard him."
#4 Is there a conflict between Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli?
Reports of a conflict between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been circulating in the media since the 2019 World Cup. Chetan Sharma disclosed the truth with a Bollywood analogy and said:
"There is no battle between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma but there is ego. Both are like big film stars you can say, Amitabh Bachan and Dharmendra."
#5 Why have Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma been rested from T20Is?
Big names like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been absent from the Indian T20I squad since the T20 World Cup 2022 ended. Sharma said that the big names are 'rested' so that new players like Shubman Gill can receive a chance to play.
"In the T20I format, strong starters like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are given "rest" to give Shubman Gill an opportunity," he was quoted as saying by Zee News.
Further, Sharma also disclosed that players like Hardik Pandya, Umesh Yadav and Deepak Hooda have come to his house to discuss their future.