Virat Kohli's name has been trending since Wednesday, because of the fiery presser where he made a few statements that raised eyebrows. Before leaving for South Africa, Kohli addressed the press and vividly spoke about the T20I captaincy, his rapport with Rohit Sharma and various other things which is making headlines. Now the players like  Salman Butt, Sunil Gavaskar, Aakash Chopra and others have reacted to the fiery presser. The former Pakistani cricketer Salman Butt slammed the BCCI and demanded an explanation from BCCI President Sourav Ganguly for the kind of treatment given to the Indian Test skipper. Virat Kohli Press Conference: From ODI Captaincy to Opening Up About the Rift With Rohit Sharma, 5 Important Statements By India’s Test Skipper Ahead of IND vs SA Series 2021-22. 

According to Butt Ganguly needs to answer in the better interest of Indian cricket and the contradicting statements from Kohli and Ganguly were not a small thing to happen. "It is not a question of captaincy. Debate is not about Rohit taking over. He is a good captain and has proved himself at the international and IPL level. The procedure to pass on the responsibility from one great to another was not smooth," he said.

Sunil Gavaskar also seconded Butt's opinion and asked the BCCI President to speak up about discrepancies. The former Indian captain also opined that there should have been a clear line of communication between Kohli and Ganguly about giving away the reins of the team. Gavaask said that a presser from the BCCI about Kohli not being the skipper of the ODIs would have made life easier. This could have simply brought down unnecessary controversies.

Former Indian selector Sarandeep Singh on the other hand was quite shocked by the statement by Virat Kohli. He explained that the BCCI does not play a role in selecting the players. It's the selection committee that makes such decisions. He shot down the idea of having two captains for white-ball cricket.

Aakash Chopra on the other hand said that these statements are only hurting Indian cricket. While speaking about the change in captaincy, he pointed out the communication gap between the BCCI and Virat Kohli. "Virat Kohli said he never asked for leave, the news had come that he had asked for leave even before Rohit Sharma was named the captain. I mean this is a communication breakdown. Who is doing this and why is somebody doing this?"

Kapil Dev, on the other hand, asked the BCCI President to control the situation as the two (Kohli and Ganguly) are opposing each other in public which is not a very good thing to happen. As one may recall,  Virat Kohi had expressed his displeasure on losing the ODI captaincy.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 16, 2021 01:39 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).