Virat Kohli IGNORED, Hardik Pandya Consulted by BCCI During Gautam Gambhir’s Appointment as Team India Head Coach. Here’s WHY

Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) consulted Hardik but not Kohli. 

Mumbai: Gautam Gambhir was officially appointed as India’s head coach earlier this week. While this news was on the cards, it has now been learnt that former India captain Virat Kohli was not consulted during the appointment process. It is no secret that Kohli and Gambhir have not had the best of pasts between them. But, why was Kohli not consulted during the appointment but Hardik Pandya was?

As per a report in the Hindustan Times, the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) consulted Hardik but not Kohli. The report suggests that the Indian board did not want to take any chances also because Kohli has retired from T20Is. The same report also claims that the BCCI top brass wanted to look at the future and hence, the former captain was not consulted.

“There is enough time for the two to have conversations over the table. But it was important for the BCCI to look at the big picture with many youngsters likely to feature in the coming years,” a BCCI official told Hindustan Times.

So, what would be the expectations from Gambhir? 

Solid Working Relation With Kohli: It is no secret that Kohli and Gambhir have had a rough past despite hailing from the same state. The reason – both are super competitive. So, first up, all eyes would be on the relation Gambhir and Kohli share. If that is taken care off, then most things will fall in place.

WTC Title: After reaching the summit clash on two consecutive occasions, India failed to cross the final hurdle. In case, India make it to their third final, the expectation would be that they turn third-time lucky. Gambhir would be expected to help the side overcome the final hurdle.