Former Indian Cricketer Accuses BCCI of ‘Internal Politics’ Behind Virat and Rohit’s Omission

Team India is currently going through a phase of change, as many veterans have announced their retirement recently. This phase started with Ravichandran Ashwin retiring from Test cricket during the five-Test series of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 in Australia.

After this series, senior batsmen Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli also retired from Test cricket in May ahead of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025.

There have been several reports that suggested that the duo’s poor performance in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia was the reason behind their retirement but now, former Indian cricketer Karsan Ghavri has added a new dimension to the controversy.

Karsan Ghavri’s big claim

Legendary left-arm pacer Karsan Ghavri, who opened the bowling with Kapil Dev in the 1970s, has added fuel to the fire by openly claiming that Kohli, Rohit wanted to continue playing Tests for India but the ‘politics’ of the BCCI and the selection committee headed by its president Ajit Agarkar eventually decided to drop the two from Test cricket.

Ghavri, who played 39 Tests and 19 ODIs for India, said on the Vicky Lalwani Show, “Kohli should have definitely continued playing for India easily, maybe for the next few years. But something forced him to retire. And unfortunately, when he retired, he was not even given a farewell by the BCCI. Such a player, such a great player who has done such a great service to the BCCI, Indian cricket and Indian fans, should have been given a great farewell.”

It’s because of BCCI’s internal politics: Ghavri

Ghavri said, “It’s because of BCCI’s internal politics, which is difficult to understand. And I think that’s the reason they retired prematurely. Even Rohit Sharma retired prematurely. They were asked to leave. It’s not that they wanted to leave. They wanted to continue playing. But the selectors and BCCI had different ideas. It was a case of some kind of petty politics.”

Apart from this, there are also reports that both of them might soon retire from ODIs as well, which might shatter their dream of playing the World Cup in 2027.