'They knew Dravid was going to replace Shastri': Inzamam says relations between Kohli, ex-coach and BCCI 'weren't great'
Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-Ul-Haq feels that the relations between Virat Kohli, Ravi Shastri may have turned frosty ahead of the T20 World Cup 2021, which resulted in India's early exit from the ICC tournament.
Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-Ul-Haq feels that the relations between Virat Kohli, Ravi Shastri may have turned frosty ahead of the T20 World Cup 2021, which resulted in India’s early exit from the ICC tournament. The legendary former Pakistan batter reckons the announcement of Kohli stepping down as India's T20 captain after the World Cup was something the BCCI and the team could have done without.
"I said this even before the match, that this statement of leaving captaincy after the tournament… it is not good. You have to play a big event and this shows that there is pressure on you and you are not comfortable. They all knew that after this tournament, Shastri was to get replaced by Dravid," Inzamam said on ARY News.
Inzamam weighed in further on the matter, pointing out that the news of Shastri's impending departure and Kohli stepping down as the team's T20I captain indicated that not all was right within the Indian camp, including relations between the captain-coach duo and the BCCI.
"This should not happen before a big event. Your authority gets challenged. And this means that relations between Kohli, Shastri and board were not great. If India were to win the T20 World Cup, would they have removed the captain and coach? There was some problem between them," said the former Pakistan batter.
Inzamam spoke about Shaheen Afridi's destructive spell against India, which saw him return 3/31, including the wickets of openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma and captain Virat Kohli. Lauding Pakistan's pace battery, Inzamam said the country's pacers are of the quality that they can dismantle any batting unit in the world.
"Our fast bowlers always stamp their authority on India. We have always had a good pace battery. Every team is a little apprehensive about facing Pakistan’s bowling," said Inzamam.