The South African spinner Tabraiz Shamsi has supported Indian test captain Virat Kohli for his recent statements, where he contradicted BCCI president Sourav Ganguly in a pre-tour press conference ahead of flying to South Africa.
Sourav Ganguly had played down Kohli’s sacking as India’s white-ball captain saying that BCCI didn’t have any intentions to do so and it was only because Kohli didn’t continue as the T20I captain, they had to replace him as the ODI captain as well, as they couldn’t have two captains for white-ball cricket.
However, Kohli said something completely different when he had the opportunity to address the media. He said BCCI didn’t tell him that he shouldn’t step down as T20I captain. When he stepped down, they were happy with the decision and despite him saying he wanted to continue as ODI captain, they removed him from ODI captaincy later.
Tabraiz Shamsi will be playing against Kohli on the upcoming tour of South Africa
While this has now triggered a controversy in Indian cricket circles, Tabraiz Shamsi responded to a tweet earlier today, which praised Kohli for standing for himself and not toeing the line with the BCCI president, which was the easier thing to do for his job security in future.
Being completely honest about the situation, Kohli came out and let everyone know his side of the story, something a lot of other people perhaps wouldn’t have done in the same situation simply because of the consequences it might lead to. Shamsi quoted that tweet and wrote, “this is why he (Kohli) is as good as he is,”.
Tabraiz Shamsi will be playing against Kohli on the upcoming tour of South Africa as he is a key part of South Africa’s ODI squad and is currently one of the leading spinners in the world in white-ball cricket. For him to support Kohli on an internal matter of Indian cricket, despite being a foreign player, is something extraordinary.
This is why he is as good as he is 🙌 https://t.co/75E0ZBUPZg
— Tabraiz Shamsi (@shamsi90) December 16, 2021
