Kohli eventually brings the curtain down on his Test career, having played 123 Tests. In the 210 innings he batted in, the right-hander scored 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85 and his highest score was 254 not out. But who would have thought that a class-apart batter like Kohli would finish without breaching the 10,000-run mark in the format that he cherished the most and often described as “the toughest format.”

India would now be without both senior batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for the England series. Rohit, who just turned 38, some days back, announced retirement from Tests earlier this week.

Kohli ruled the longest format of the game from 2015-19, scoring runs for fun. He took over the captaincy mantle from MS Dhoni after his retirement midway through the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2014-15. After that, Kohli had a prolonged golden run in Tests as he smashed every team that stepped in his way. Be it Australia, England, South Africa, or Bangladesh, Kohli made a mockery out of their bowlers.

From 2016-2019, Kohli registered seven double centuries in Tests. He smashed 200 against the West Indies, 204 against Bangladesh, 211 against New Zealand, 213 against Sri Lanka, 235 against England, 243 against Sri Lanka, and 254 against South Africa as he showed the world his pedigree of batting long and draining the opposition out.

However, Virat Kohli’s story took a sharp turn after the 2021 Tests. He suffered a massive dip in form, scoring just four centuries in the last four years. There can be several reasons for his poor run with the bat. Many talk about hand-eye coordination and Kohli’s weakness regarding the deliveries bowled in the fourth-stump channel. However, not many speak about the mental challenge he endured after a fallout with the then-BCCI President Sourav Ganguly.

It all started with Virat Kohli announcing his decision to step down as the T20I captain. The decision seemed harmless at first. However, just days after this announcement, different versions started to appear, and the public learned about the fallout between Kohli and Ganguly.

Kohli announced his decision to step down from T20I captaincy citing workload management. In his statement posted on social media, he made it clear that he wanted to continue as ODI and Test captain. However, just months later, Kohli was removed as the ODI captain and Rohit Sharma was named the new skipper. There was no press conference or detailed explanation, as the BCCI just added one line in a press release stating that Rohit Sharma would be the new white-ball captain.

The then-BCCI President Sourav Ganguly gave a series of interviews to several publications, saying he had asked the batter not to leave the leadership role in T20s. He said that since Kohli made up his mind, the BCCI opted to have one person as the skipper in both the white-ball formats to ensure continuity.

“It’s a call that the BCCI and the selectors took together. Actually, the BCCI had requested Virat not to step down as the T20I skipper, but obviously, he did not agree. And the selectors then did not feel it right to have two different captains for two white-ball formats,” Ganguly told ANI.

“So it was decided that Virat will continue as Test captain and Rohit will take over as the white-ball captain. I, as President, personally spoke to Virat Kohli,” he stated further.

However, right before the three-match series against South Africa, Kohli addressed the media in a pre-departure press conference, and it was then that he made some bombshell claims. He openly threw shade at Ganguly as he provided a different stance, saying he was never asked to leave the T20I captaincy. He also opened up on how he was told that he would no longer be the ODI captain just 1.5 hours before the squad for the South Africa Tests was announced.

Speaking to reporters via Zoom, Kohli said, “I was contacted one-and-a-half hours before the selection meeting on December 8 for the Test series. There was no prior communication to me at all from when I announced the T20I captaincy decision until December 8, when, as I said, I got a call one-and-a-half hours before the selection meeting.”

“When I decided to leave the T20I captaincy and communicated that, and I approached the BCCI first about my decision, that this is my point of view, and these are the reasons due to which I am doing this, it was received in a very nice way. I wasn’t told you don’t leave the T20 captaincy. Instead, it was received well; I was told it’s a very progressive step and in the right direction,” he added.

With this bombshell Virat Kohli press conference on December 15, 2021, the spat between the batter and Ganguly became public knowledge and fans on social media quickly started to take sides. There were several reports back then stating how the BCCI officials were not pleased with Kohli for airing internal matters publicly.

Some reports also stated that Ganguly wanted to issue a show-cause notice to Virat Kohli for the same. However, speaking to news agency ANI, the former India skipper denied all these claims.

Just a month after his fallout, India lost the Test series against South Africa under Kohli’s leadership. A day after the eventual series defeat, the batter posted a short and crisp statement on X (formerly Twitter), stating that he would no longer be leading India in Tests as well. So, in a matter of five months, Kohli was no longer the captain in any format of the game.

Kohli-Ganguly cold vibes extend to IPL

It was not the end of the matter between Ganguly and Kohli as the cold vibes between the two extended in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 when Ganguly was the Director of Cricket for Delhi Capitals while Kohli represented the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

When Delhi Capitals and RCB played against each other, Ganguly and Kohli did not shake hands after the fixture concluded. Several video clips showed Kohli bypassing Ganguly, and according to reports, both also unfollowed each other on Instagram.

Considering the entire sequence of events, the fallout between Virat Kohli and Sourav Ganguly appears to be rooted in mshandled communication over captaincy decisions.

The duo has remained diplomatic in public after the major fallout; however, no one can deny that they did not see eye-to-eye, and it also marked a low point in BCCI’s handling of a major transition.