A Resignation Foretold?

Virat Kohli’s resignation from the captaincy has been in the works for a while now.

Santosh Desai

It has been clear for some time that his relationship with the BCCI has soured and that his departure was only a matter of time. His ouster from ODI captaincy was handled in an unsavoury way, hardly the kind of reward that someone with his track record deserved. Although his resignation is voluntary, it is difficult not to believe that he has been pushed into a corner and that this was the only way out for him.

We will never know for sure what led to this development. Did Kohli’s stepping down from T20 captaincy precipitate a chain of events? Ganguly now says they had asked him to reconsider that decision, something Kohli denies ever having happened. Was it Kohli’s growing unpopularity with a vocal section because of his advocacy of a cracker-free Diwali and his standing up for Shami when he was being trolled communally? Many believed that his end was nigh once he stepped across this invisible, but palpable political line and that forecast seems to have come true.

In many ways, the current development is the victory of mediocre self-interest over the integrity of talent. Kohli displays a fullness of commitment to his chosen profession that even his worst detractors cannot challenge. That he gives more of himself than virtually any other cricketer, often to the point of dysfunction, is apparent in every moment he is on the field. His training regimen and the lengths to which he goes to attain a fitness level are legendary.