Sourav Ganguly reveals reason behind naming Rohit as India captain

The resignation of Virat Kohli as the captain of the Indian team was one of the ugliest phases in Indian cricket in recent times. Right after India's Test series against England, Virat was asked to step down from his captaincy in the shortest format of the game. Virat did not like the decision from the Indian Cricket Board, but resigned from his T20I captaincy. 

Virat did not just resign his T20I captaincy but also announced his captaincy from ODIs as well. All of it happened just before the T20 World Cup 2021. It did not help India in any way, as the former world champions faced a group-stage exit from the tournament. Following India's exit from the tournament, Rohit Sharma was named the captain of the Indian team in the limited-overs formats. 

The situation in the Indian dressing room seemed not too good. There were reports suggesting rifts between Rohit and Virat. After India's loss against South Africa in the Test series in 2022, Virat stepped down from the captaincy in the longest format of the game as well. From then, Rohit became the full-time captain of India. Barring T20Is, Rohit has led India in every format since then. 

He is now leading from the front, you guys can check the results - Sourav Ganguly

The supporters of Virat were not too pleased with the decision. Many developed negative opinions over Rohit. There was dissatisfaction towards Sourav Ganguly, the then president of the Indian cricket board. Reacting to it in a recent interview, Ganguly said that Rohit becoming the Indian captain was a decision forced upon him, rather than him taking it. 

"Rohit did not want the captaincy because there was a lot of pressure on playing all formats. It had come on a stage and told him that if he doesn’t say yes, I will announce his name. I am happy that he listened to me and is now leading from the front. You guys can check the results,” said Ganguly, as he revealed that Rohit did not ask for India's captaincy.