'He deserved respect’- Danish Kaneria not amused with BCCI's treatment to Virat Kohli

Former Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria has slammed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials for sacking Virat Kohli as the ODI captain. As per reports, BCCI gave a 48-hour ultimatum to Virat Kohli to step down from the post which he denied after which BCCI sacked him.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Kaneria said the way BCCI handled the situation was inappropriate and they should have dealt with the matter by communicating well.

“Did the BCCI do the right thing with Kohli? I don’t think so. They did not give him respect. He has gotten India 65 wins as captain, the fourth-highest by any India skipper. The thing is why didn’t you inform someone whose record as captain isn’t bad at all. Second most-highest runs as India ODI skipper. Based on his record, he deserved respect. Sure, he hasn’t won an ICC trophy as captain but the way he has led is phenomenal,” Kaneria said on his YouTube channel.

Kohli did a phenomenal job as the captain of the ODI team. Under his leadership, India managed to beat New Zealand, South Africa, England, and Australia in their backyard. He also led from the front, scoring above 5000 runs in the 95 matches he led.

However, in the last two years, Kohli’s form has seen a dip. Kaneria feels that might be one of the reasons why the BCCI sacked him as the captain.

“The only two superstars going around in world cricket at the moment are Virat Kohli and Babar Azam. You should respect your superstars. The BCCI were harsh in removing Kohli without informing him. Sourav Ganguly is such a big name, a former captain. He should have communicated to Virat that we would like Rohit to captain. Another thing that went against him was that Kohli was not scoring runs as big and fluently as he used to,” Kaneria pointed out.