” Common Sense is not common”, I
often comment in my classroom. The unfolding saga of Virat Kohli vs Saurav
Ganguly Vs BCCI vs Azharuddin vs Sunil Gavaskar vs every other Indian has left
me bemused and perplexed, to say the least.
First let us put things in
perspective. Whether we like it or not Virat Kohli is a superstar cricketer.
His popularity is phenomenal, only second to Sachin Tendulkar and his records
speak for themselves. His captaincy record has been outstanding and his win
percentage too has been good. His only blemish, not winning any ICC
championships.
But why blame him? Even the great
Sachin Tendulkar was not a great captain. We were lucky to have a Dhoni who did
so well in ICC championships. But to hound and play the fool with Virat Kohli
is not done at all.
First of all, Saurav Ganguly says
that he asked Virat Kohli to reconsider his decision to give up T20I captaincy.
Immediately Virat Kohli says that there was no such communication to him and
that the decision to relieve him of ODI captaincy was conveyed only 90 minutes
before the selection committee meeting.
Fine, BCCI. Why can’t you have
all these discussions in-camera. Why do you need to wash your dirty linen in
public? Then suddenly Rohit Sharma becomes injured and will not play test
matches. On cue Virat Kohli says that it is his daughter’s birthday in January
2022 and that he would not play in the ODI series against south Africa.
Katti or tit for tat. BCCI has
become the laughing stock of the world. And the comedy has yet not ended, Virat
Kohli now says that he is available to play the Odo series against South
Africa. One thing that BCCI has to realize is that Virat Kohli is a big draw
and a superstar cricketer. It is better to deal with him with butter gloves.
BCCI is known to grovel before superstars.
They had to humour Kapil Dev till he reached 432 wickets and had to put up with
Sachin Tendulkar till he got 100 international hundreds and played 200 test
matches.
I am sure that BCCI will placate
Virat Kohli too. Why in the world would BCCI want to kill its golden goose! A
goose that lays eggs worth crores of rupees!