What Cost Virat Kohli the Captaincy of India's One-Day International Cricket Team?

Virat Kohli is India's most successful skipper in Test cricket, the five-day version of the sport. However, he couldn't replicate this success in the game's shorter formats, with his inability to win an ICC trophy during his five-year reign eventually costing him the captaincy in One-Day Internationals (ODIs).

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday stripped batsman Virat Kohli of captaincy of the country's ODI team.

The development came as no surprise to the cricketing community in the nation, considering Kohli's side recently made an unceremonious first round exit from the T20 World Cup.

Unlike the T20I captaincy – from which the 33-year-old decided to step down on his own – Kohli didn't want to quit as the ODI skipper.

But according to various reports in the national press, the BCCI wasn't willing to give him more time, especially as India is set to host the next ODI World Cup in 2023.

Apparently the BCCI's top brass and selectors gave Kohli a 48-hour ultimatum to relinquish his post voluntarily, but when he didn't respond to their calls, the board acted in the 49th hour.

Subsequently, Kohli has been replaced by Rohit Sharma as captain.

"The BCCI wanted absolute clarity between red-ball and white-ball cricket. The BCCI wanted a complete (leadership) separation between the longest format and shorter formats to avoid any confusion," a BCCI source told The Indian Express on Thursday.

"In the end, it was left to the selectors to take a call. They decided to appoint Rohit as new ODI captain," the BCCI insider added.

After quitting the post of India's T2O captain in October, Kohli made it clear that he wished to lead the team in both Tests and ODIs but his standing took a dive following India's disappointing showing in the T20 World Cup in the UAE.

Moreover, Kohli's performance as a batsman has been poor, with his last international century coming more than two years ago in November 2019. In the last two years, he has scored 2,023 runs in 51 matches for India, but his overall average has dropped to below 40, down from his overall career average of over 50.

On top of this, at times Kohli has looked clueless as skipper, lacking ideas to force the game in the team's favour.

"The All-India Senior Selection Committee decided to name Rohit Sharma as the Captain of the ODI & T20I teams going forward," the official statement from the BCCI said.

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan had called the appointment of Sharma a "very good decision."

Very good decision 👍 https://t.co/MD9WzFOc5t

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) December 8, 2021

Virat Kohli ➡️ Rohit Sharma

Beginning of a new era for India men’s limited-overs cricket. pic.twitter.com/5yo9Jdj4U2

— ICC (@ICC) December 8, 2021

Similar sentiments were also echoed by former Indian spinner Gopal Sharma, who claimed that Kohli's sacking was waiting to happen ever since India failed to progress through to the knock out stages of the T20 World Cup.

"There's no doubt about the fact that Kohli is a great batsman, and his captaincy has brought in the much-needed aggression in the side. But his leadership in limited-overs cricket has lacked spark in recent days," Sharma told Sputnik on Thursday.

"By naming Rohit Sharma as the ODI captain, the BCCI has taken a very wise decision," he added.