Not too long ago, Virat Kohli shared a message from his social media account announcing his resignation from the position of the Indian captain in T20Is after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup 2021. Kohli suggested that the reason behind taking such drastic action was to focus on his skills as a batter. 

However, new media reports suggest that the real reason is a lot more deep-cutting than Kohli trying to get better with the bat. In fact, it is being reported that the root cause for such a sudden move was Chennai off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin complaining to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary about feeling a sense of insecurity in the team because of the skipper.

According to Cricket Addictor, many sources confirmed the fact that it was Ashwin who had revolted against Virat Kohli when the captain expressed his dissatisfaction with him for lack of intent during the World Test Championships final against New Zealand in June 2021.

The relationship between Ashwin and Kohli seemed to turn sour during the Indian cricket team’s time in England, especially after the off-spinner did not get to play in even one of the four Test matches that took place in the United Kingdom.

It is also being reported that Kohli’s disregard for Ashwin went beyond the England series. A Times of India report had mentioned how Ashwin was never going to be Kohli’s first pick for the T20 World Cup 2021 squad. In fact, the skipper wanted Washington Sundar to get the spot. However, Sundar got severely injured ahead of the England series.

It was later also speculated that after Sundar went down with an injury, Kohli wanted Yuzvendra Chahal as a replacement and Ashwin still had nowhere to go.

While at the moment, Kohli has only announced his retirement from T20 cricket at the end of the 2021 World Cup, it is also widely believed that he will end up giving away his captaincy in white-ball cricket (T20Is and ODIs) completely. Vice-captain Rohit Sharma is believed to assume complete authority of the Indian cricket team after the end of the quadrennial contest.

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