3 Indian captains sacked by BCCI in the 21st century

The captain of the Indian cricket team is the most desired position in the country, as everyone dreams of leading the side at the highest level. However, the opportunity is only given to a selected few people, who are burdened with the responsibility of handling the team. India captaincy brings with it extreme pressure, and not everyone is capable of withstanding it.

As a result, they either have to let go of the captaincy themselves or get sacked by the board. While most choose to gracefully resign from the position, a few are unceremoniously removed from the leadership positions. Here are three Indian captains sacked from their leadership positions:

1. Sourav Ganguly

The former India captain was unceremoniously removed from ODI captaincy first after his dispute with the then newly appointed coach Greg Chappell. He was further removed from Test captaincy in November 2005, being replaced by Rahul Dravid. Ganguly even went on to lose his place in the team before making a comeback in 2006 in the Test series against South Africa.

2. Virat Kohli

The star India batter was unceremoniously sacked from ODI captaincy after he stepped down from T20I leadership duties following the T20 World Cup 2021. While Kohli wanted to continue leading India in ODIs, the then BCCI President Sourav Ganguly wanted one captain for both white-ball formats and, hence, reportedly requested Kohli to continue leading the team in T20Is as well.

Later, Kohli revealed that the BCCI didn’t make any such requests and also disclosed that he was informed about his removal from ODI leadership just before the squad announcement for South Africa tour. Hence, Kohli’s removal from ODIs became one of the most controversial chapters of Indian cricket history. He even stepped down from Test captaincy following the Test series in South Africa.

3. Rohit Sharma

Before Rohit Sharma, captains in Indian cricket were sacked due to the poor performance of the team under their leadership. However, he became the first Indian skipper to be shown the door despite leading the team to a back-to-back ICC titles. After leading India to the Champions Trophy 2025 triumph, Rohit was sacked from leadership duties a few months later, with Shubman Gill replacing him as vice captain. As a result, Rohit’s sacking became one of the most controversial leadership changes in Indian cricket, who was removed despite delivering the results.