‘What Virat meant is perhaps a reflection of his relationship and equation with MSD’
Former Indian team manager Sunil Subramanium doesn’t give any importance to what Virat Kohli recently has said in the media.
“Why should people try to read more on Kohli’s recent statement when all he has said is that he received a call from Dhoni when he resigned from test captaincy?,” the former manager, who has worked with both former captains, says.
“Some in the cricket fraternity, particularly the media and ex cricketers in the media or having access to media are the ones responding to what was a passing phrase in a number of questions asked to Virat Kohli in a recent post match PC. May I reluctantly add my two bits whether it matters or not. It probably resonated with the resignation of Dhoni as a Test captain a few years ago midway through an Australian Test series and Virat may have had similar thoughts when he decided to relinquish Test captaincy”.
“Virat has always had huge respect for MS Dhoni. The matter ends there. Whether others called or didn’t call him personally is in the realms of speculation. It has little place in a professional setup. Anyway, there are no requirements to minute such conversations. My experience as a manager of the team from 2017 to 2019 was that the Indian Men’s senior Team across formats with 35 plus centrally contracted players were a group of elite professionals who went about their jobs with utmost professionalism and it does not mean that Kohli had no support from his team mates. One does not have such a glittering captaincy record without the support of fellow professional players. What he meant is perhaps a reflection of his relationship and equation with MSD”.
“Having worked with the team as a manager, I know what it takes to keep harmony in this squad and I am really glad to see the harmony continuing and more importantly, if Virat gets back to his run scoring ways and here is hoping this would be a glorious run for the Team and Virat personally before the World Cup”, the ex-manager signed off.
One former First Class cricketer, Saad Bin Jung has backed Kohli’s concerns.
Speaking exclusively, he said, “once you are not a selector, captain, nor the kingmaker, unlike old times, no contemporary cricketer really cares about what a former captain says. They are more worried about handling their own social media platforms. That’s where their money lies. I feel indian cricket no longer cares about their has beens. And that is wrong. We need to respect cricket and cricketers both past and present. I stand with Virat. Every cricketer whose life he changed as captain should have called him when he announced his retirement, that’s the least they could have done”.
