Anurag Thakur, the central sports minister of India who has been a former BCCI president as well, has refused to go into the details of the rumored rift between the two Indian superstars Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, but he has said that no player is bigger than the sport.
According to Anurag Thakur, who was quoted by Asian age today, the exact details of what’s going on between two athletes or players can only be provided only by the board which is in charge of that particular sport in the country. Since it’s a cricketing matter, it falls under the jurisdiction of BCCI, but the sport is always supreme and not the player
It is rumored that Virat Kohli is not happy with the BCCI because of the manner in which he has been sacked from the ODI captaincy. He wanted to continue as the ODI captain of India till the next ODI World Cup, but the BCCI decided that they wanted to go with Rohit Sharma as the ODI and T20I captain and Virat was asked to lead the test team only.
Virat Kohli, thereafter, didn’t take part in the 4-day preparation camp for South Africa tour, a camp which was attended by Rohit Sharma. However, later, it was said that the camp was organised only for players who didn’t feature in the recent test series against New Zealand. Since Virat played the second test match against NZ, he didn’t need to attend the camp.
Virat’s entry to India’s bio bubble in Mumbai got delayed and he didn’t check in on the 13th of December, which was the date for every player to report into the bubble before the flight on the 16th. It was then reported that Virat had requested for home quarantine, which was granted by BCCI.
Arun Dhumal, brother of Anurag Thakur, is the treasurer of BCCI right now
Another news surfaced yesterday that Virat was asked to be given a break from the ODI series on the South Africa tour, a report which was confirmed by the BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal as well. But, the status changed by evening, as Virat is now supposed to play in the SA ODIs.
With these things clearly hinting towards chaos in the Indian camp at the moment, the words of Anurag Thakur might also have hinted towards a clash between the organisation (BCCI) and the player (Virat Kohli).
