'Ab safai ka koi matlab nahi sir' - Fans react to Sourav Ganguly praising Virat Kohli's Test captaincy after India lose WTC 2023 final

Sourav Ganguly & Virat Kohli (Source: Twitter)

Former Indian Cricket Board president Sourav Ganguly praised Virat Kohli's captaincy after India suffered yet another heartbreak in a major international tournament. India lost to Australia in the 2021-23 World Test Championship (WTC) final at The Oval on Sunday, raising questions over Rohit Sharma's captaincy. In the aftermath of all of this, Ganguly has broken his silence on Kohli's decision to step down as Test captain and praised India's success under him.

There have been several controversies among the former captains of Team India, with Ganguly rumored to be behind Kohli's exit from India's T20 and Test captaincy. In a recent interaction with Aaj Tak, the former India captain revealed that the board was not prepared for Kohli leaving the Test captaincy and no one knows the reason behind it.

"The Indian Cricket Board was not prepared for Virat Kohli leaving the Test captaincy. It was unexpected for us also after the South Africa tour. Only Virat Kohli can reveal why he left the captaincy. There is no point talking about this now because he left the Test captaincy. Selectors had to appoint an India captain. And Rohit was the best option at that time," Ganguly said.

"Kohli was a very good captain, India did really well under Kohli & Shastri, India played with a fearless attitude and showed guts in England & Australia," he added.

Kohli completed his captaincy stint as India's most successful Test captain

Kohli is regarded as India's most successful captain in the history of Test cricket. Under his leadership, India won 40 Test matches - 13 more than legendary skipper MS Dhoni and only behind Graeme Smith, Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh. The 34-year-old guided India to 18 Test series victory and is also the first Asian captain to win a Test series in Australia. India also made it to the final of the inaugural World Test Championship in 2019-21 cycle.

Earlier, Kohli, addressing the media ahead of the South Africa Test series, said that there was no prior communication to him that his captaincy stint was over. "There was no prior communication to me at all from when I announced the T20I captaincy decision until the eighth (of December) where, as I said, I got a call one-and-a-half hours before the selection meeting," Kohli had said.

Here's how fans reacted to Ganguly's remark on Virat Kohli: 

That’s why he sacked him over call? 😭

— Anoop Mishra (@Anupmis25) June 12, 2023

I can't believe it took him so long to say it, but finally, he did it.

— Dr.KKR (@drkkr) June 13, 2023

pic.twitter.com/IrzFsZltIt

— Phunsuk Wangdu (@Phunsukwangduji) June 12, 2023

Virat Kohli said - I need New haters bcz old one becomes my fan 🔥🔥🔥

— Anil Daiya (@anildai77941385) June 12, 2023

Sir ab safai ka koi matlab nahi #ViratKohli

— kailash bhakar (@kailashbhakar_) June 12, 2023

But You PLAYED a beautiful knock to KnOck them Out💀💀💀💀💀💀

— Faisal (@Faisalxmeh) June 12, 2023

That's G.O.A.T thing, when ur hater had to praise you #ViratKohli𓃵

— surya (@ss_2605) June 12, 2023

To kyu us bande pe itna pressure daal rahe the? Kyu PR game chala rahe the? Woh bhi human hai aur sab uske khilaaf the isiliye phir usko na chaahte huye bhi test captaincy chhodni padi.

— Khush Thakkar (@Khush_Thakkar12) June 12, 2023

Is that the reason you sacked him off the captaincy? And faked like you requested him not to leave the captaincy? Kya chu hai baap. 🤦🏽‍♂️

— .. (@TejaMahee) June 12, 2023

Irony from who sacked chokli 😭

— 𝐌𝐫𝐢𝐧🇮🇳 (@Mrinmoy25554517) June 12, 2023